The Makers Archives II: The Book of Latenius
by Gloxinia
Summary: Summer vacation has finally arrived and the Sirens are hoping that things will be different the up coming year, but with the Dragon Flame gone forever, the Ancestors are trying anything they can to get another powerful source of magic. After they are freed from the Monastery of Roccaluce by a new villain, the keys to the Book of Latenius will be sought out...and found?
1. OC

**Notes: IMPORTANT**

-I want to have at least 2 witches, 3 specialists, 2 pixies, 2 teachers (any school), 1 (main) Wizard (but I don't care how many side Wizards and they will still have an important part) and 1 Casidor soldier/guard. I also want to have at least two fairies, but I probably will accept more. For the most part, I won't start updating until I get most of these characters.  
-For all old characters, there is some things I want you to fill out for them. At the bottom of the page.  
-No Mary-Sues/ Gary-Sues.  
-If you want your character to be a Wizard AND a Specialist, create your character under Specialist.  
**-There are different things I want you to fill up for each character. For the most part they are the same so if you can't find it than just put it in any section.  
**-The sections: fairy/witches, specialists/soldiers, wizards, teachers, pixies, old characters (in that order).  
-There will be lesbians and gays in my story, if you aren't comfortable with that let me know, not unkindly, though, by PM, also. I do not know how many (fem)slash moments there will be, it all depends on the audience of this story.  
-If you don't want your character to have a boy/girlfriend say so.  
-I might change your character a little bit, only a little, though.

**Author's note:**

I really love Ancestors, I had a great time writing it so now I'm even more excited to start this story, the sequel to Ancestors. I hope you all enjoy it! You should all know that this is a **sequel**, though it is **unnecessary **to read Ancestors. It might help, but the important things will have a short recap every now and then. Also, keep in mind that my writing is now better than it was over a year ago, when I first started writing Ancestors.

**Summary: **

Summer vacation has finally arrived and the Sirens are hoping that things will be different the up coming year, but with the Dragon Flame gone forever, the Ancestors are trying anything they can to get another powerful source of magic. After they are freed from the Monastery of Roccaluce by a new villain, the keys to the Book of Latenius will be sought out...and found? Life starts to get touch once again for the Sirens, now that Astrel`s warnings start coming true. And what about the Makers and Apprentices, what do they have to do with the fate of the world, and more importantly, why are they following the Sirens?

**For new fairies/witches:**

Name:

School (is she a witch or fairy):

Age + Birthday:

Planet:

Status (peasant, priest, prince etc...), feelings about it and reputation:

sexuality (homophobic, yes or no):

illnesses/diseases/allergies (ex. Like Astrel had epilepsy):

Power/weapon:

Attacks (name a few spells and explain what they do):

Defences (name a few spells and explain what they do):

history:

family members and feelings towards them:

pet and pixie:

Skin and Build:

Hair:

facial features- eyes, nose, lips, overall face:

everyday outfit1:

everyday outfit 2:

a dark outfit (an outfit that's opposite of their personality. Include hairstyle and makeup):

fairy/witch outfit:

Charmix (pin and belt):

Have they gathered their charmix yet, if so how:

Enchantix:

formal:

sleepwear:

swim wear:

personality:

Good or evil:

Hobbies and Talents:

Type of people they like: as a crush-, as friends-, people they don't like-

likes:

dislikes:

catch phrases/way they talk (accent):

Fear/weaknesses:

favourite-

animal:

food:

colour:

sport:

genre of book:

genre of movie:

Sun or moon:

Fire, Water, Air/Wind, or Earth:

anything you want to happen:

anything I should know:

**For Specialists/Soldiers: **

Name:

Gender:

Age + Birthday:

Planet (soldiers just have to live on Casidor):

Status (peasant, priest, prince etc...) ,feelings about it and parents:

Reputation:

sexuality (homophobic, yes or no) :

illnesses/diseases/allergies (ex. Like Astrel had epilepsy)

Weapon :

history:

family members and feelings towards them:

pet:

Skin and Build:

Hair:

facial features- eyes, nose, lips, overall face:

everyday outfit1:

everyday outfit 2:

a dark outfit (an outfit that's opposite of their personality. Include hairstyle and makeup):

Specialists colour:

formal:

sleepwear:

swim wear:

personality:

Good or evil:

Hobbies and Talents:

Type of people they like: as a crush-, as friends-, people they don't like-

likes:

dislikes:

catch phrases/way they talk (accent):

Fear/weaknesses:

favourite-

animal:

food:

colour:

sport:

genre of book:

genre of movie:

Sun or moon:

Fire, Water, Air/Wind, or Earth:

anything you want to happen:

anything I should know:

**For Wizards:**

Name:

Age + Birthday:

Planet:

sexuality (homophobic, yes or no) :

illnesses/diseases /allergies(ex. Like Astrel has epilepsy)

Power/weapon:

Attacks (name a few spells and explain what they do):

Defences (name a few spells and explain what they do) :

history:

family members and feelings towards them:

pet:

Skin and Build:

Hair:

facial features- eyes, nose, lips, overall face:

everyday outfit1:

everyday outfit 2:

a dark outfit (an outfit that's opposite of their personality. Include hairstyle and makeup):

formal:

sleepwear:

swim wear:

personality:

Good or evil:

Hobbies and Talents:

Type of people they like: as a crush-, as friends-, people they don't like-

likes:

dislikes:

catch phrases/way they talk (accent):

Fear/weaknesses:

favourite-

animal:

food:

colour:

sport:

genre of book:

genre of movie:

Sun or moon:

Fire, Water, Air/Wind, or Earth:

anything you want to happen:

anything I should know:

**For teachers**

Name:

Gender:

School:

Age + Birthday:

species:

Planet:

Reputation:

sexuality (homophobic, yes or no) :

illnesses/diseases/allergies (ex. Like Astrel had epilepsy)

Power/weapon:

Attacks (name a few spells and explain what they do):

Defences (name a few spells and explain what they do) :

history:

family members and feelings towards them:

pet (and pixie):

Skin and Build:

Hair:

facial features- eyes, nose, lips, overall face:

everyday outfit1:

a dark outfit (an outfit that's opposite of their personality. Include hairstyle and makeup):

fairy/witch outfit (fairies and witches only):

Charmix/Gloomix (pin and belt) (fairies and witches only):

how did they get their Charmix/Gloomix (fairies and witches only):

Enchantix/Disenchantix (fairies and witches only):

formal:

personality:

Good or evil:

Hobbies and Talents:

likes:

dislikes:

Fear/weaknesses:

Sun or moon:

Fire, Water, Air/Wind, or Earth:

anything you want to happen:

anything I should know:

**For Pixies: **

Name:

Gender:

hair:

facial features- eyes, nose, lips, overall face:

everyday wear:

formal wear:

pyjamas:

swim wear:

type of pixie/powers/weapons:

personality:

bonded fairy (they don't need to have one):

what they want in a bonded fairy:

what they want in a best friend:

pet:

anything I should know:

Sun or moon:

Fire, Water, Air/Wind, or Earth:

anything you want to happen:

favourite colour/food/music/animal:

**For old characters:**

Name:

sexuality (can be different than what I wrote):

homophobic, yes or no:

allergies:

new look (optional):

dark outfit (an outfit that's opposite of the characters personality. Include hairstyle and make up):

new formal outfits:

new traits you want to add (optional):

new spells:

Favourites-

music:

sport:

genre of movie:

genre of book:

Sun or moon:

Fire, Water, Air/Wind, or Earth:

anything you want to happen:

anything I should know:

(fairies and witches only) have they gathered their Charmix/Gloomix yet (over the time that I didn't cover?):


	2. More info

Hey, hey everyone! This is another author's note, sorry if you thought it was a chapter, but I want to give you more information on the coming story. I also want to thank **everyone** for sending their characters in. I didn't mention this the previous chapter, but you can Private Message me your character, which most have done, or review, like some of you have. Anonymous reviewers are welcomed as well. I don't really have a personal preference between review or PM, but if you can do either I would like a review simply for the fact that if I am away from home and I need to get the information of your character, it's easy to get by just checking out the story's review page. But really, I don't really care either way.

**More notes on the story:**

-Try to create unique characters, for example, send me a specialist that turns into a mermaid when they touch water. I just want people to have fun with creating their character and reading the story with fun characters. So be creative with whatever you make.

-Your character doesn't have to be any of the already asked characters (witch, fairy, specialist, wizard, pixie, teacher...) you can make your own guidelines to it, with similar info. Again, just have fun with your characters.

-Despite what I said above, your characters doesn't have to be overboard with a sad, tragic past. A lot of people have a normal, regular life.

-This story is rated T for reasons, it's for gore, mild language, and depression. NOT for romance. No woohoo (reference to chapter 20-Ancestors) moments will ever be written in this story, or any of my others. The depression in the story will have reasons behind it, though I will include humour in the story on multiple occasions.

**Please send in more characters, I need so more!**

So that's it for now, thank you EVERYONE for reading, reviewing, following, and favouring this story. You guys ROCK!

Gloxinia


	3. Story update

**Thank you all so much for all the characters, they have all be great! I had so many problems choosing, and I ended up picking most, if not all. I can't say no to people! Here is the list for all those curious:**

**Fairies(6):**

-Dominique Declare by: baby don't break my heart

-Claire Marie Knightly by: StarsMagic

-Mercy Baudin by: FresianFire

-Nico Erebus by: Vasyl

-Elaine "Lanie" Acqua by: Michelle Loves Chocolate 99

-Daniella Felexis by: Adorkable Vampire

**Witches (1):**

-Elle Payton Taylor by: RainFlowers

**Wizards (3):**

-Simeon by: Defensive

-Andrew by: shadowrider89

-Shaine Michales by: Mindblower1915

**Specialists (3):**

-Agatha by: Michelle Loves Chocolate 99

-Chase Mattews by: Anonymous245294

-Austin Laoa by: Adorkable Vampire

**Pixies (2):**

-Stardust by: Anonymous245294

-Faith by: Michelle Loves Chocolate 99

**Teachers (1):**

-Ms. Angelique Rosendale by: Michelle Loves Chocolate 99

**I think these are actually all the characters I was sent, if your character isn't mentioned then it could be have been forgotten because it was done by PM and I couldn't find her/him again. I still want Teachers and Pixies and Witches for sure. If I get more fairies I will automatically deny the character, I'm sorry, but six is already triple of what I want. Thank you all though! I love all the characters and already have plans for each to make them all have a special part. I hope I can update soon, but school work has gotten in my way. Hopefully this week won't be as busy (unlikely) so I can update like I wanted to do this weekend. **

**Just to be mean, here is a preview:**

The golden haired girl dragged her feet back home, her lack of sleep was finally getting to her. The sun was starting to rise, though the street lights were still on. It must have been around five. As she went through alleys and past shops, Juliette kept thinking of her brother. Though the war between Casidor and Latenius were over, he hadn't come home. He was one of the soldiers that remained there, just in case. Now Latenius' crumbling streets were littered with the Casidor soldiers, much to her disappointment. She wanted to tell her brother of her dreams, but not even he was around. At least her best friends were arriving this afternoon. Yes. This thought made Juliette smile, but it lowered almost immediately. They were only coming this early in the summer for the wedding. The thought of this made Juliette throw her fist against the stone wall in front of her. She lowered herself against the stones slowly, she couldn't move even if she wanted to. Soon, she fell into a calming sleep.

**What do you think? Anyway, much love :)**

**Gloxinia**


	4. This is where the story starts

I am excited to give you the very first chapter of The Makers Archives II: The Book of Latenius. I hope you all like the chapter. Please tell me your thoughts on the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club, but this plot does belong to me.

Spoilers: N/A

Warnings: This story will contain profanity, even though I'm not much of a believer in swearing it fits into the story; depression; dark themes such as murder; romance (nothing too serious); fem/slash.

* * *

_**Dear Drake,**_

**_I know __that __your mad and I know __that __your hurt, but don't __take it out on__ anyone, especially Paige. I asked and begged her until she wore down. I was selfish, I know that too. I was so selfish breaking Paige l__ike that, making her live her life with guilt and hatred for herself gnawing __at__ her heart and soul. __But I didn't want my life to be running from whatever came after me. __I'm __afraid of the pain of living my life with the emptiness of no power when I was caught, and I know that one day I was going to have no magic. I wasn't strong enough and I'm sorry for that. So don't hate Paige, hate me for running away. But never, ever think, even for a second, that it was your fault. I know you will find a way to blame yourself, but don't. _**

_**Lots of Love,**_

_**Skylar**_

0o0o0o0o0o

(Sunday, July 14th)

_Soft music filled the throne room, joining the essence of lavender and jasmine. Juliette walked up to the ancient book. Hesitantly, she lowered her hand against the worn out binding and rubbed her soft hands up to the cover, making a thin layer of dust mix with the only beam of light. Before kneeling in front of the book, Juliette dragged her fingers onto the cold, stone pedestal. For several unsettling moments Juliette closed her sky blue eyes. Once she reopened them, she took out a small golden key from her light denim pocket and placed it in one of the locks next to the book. Juliette back up as the light, that was shining down on the book, shone brighter until it was almost blinding. Turning around, the previously plain face was now the holder of a sinister smirk. Yellow eyes gazed around the room, watching to see if any guards would jump out of the secret passages. Unfortunately there were none. Flicking back her dark brown hair, she put her silver be-jewelled cellphone to her ear and said, "Ume, Gale, one down, four more to go." Now a grin grew against her face as she heard the chuckling in the background. She crumbled her phone in her hand, with dark light burning it, before throwing it to the side. No one could track her down now. The girl walked out of the chamber. _

Waking up with a start, Juliette sat up quickly, her golden braid slapping her natural rosy cheeks. For long lasting minutes, she remained where she was, panting heavily while beads of sweat trickled down her forehead. It had been exactly two weeks since she started to get the Dream. Every night was worse than the previous. Now it had become pure torture to sleep.

Reluctantly, she pushed the warm quilt from her legs and let her feet touch the hardwood floor. She shivered at the impact. Juliette decided against changing, not really caring who could see her at four in the morning, before rushing out of the house with lavender perfume clogging up her nostrils. Juliette ran across the market square, where some of the poorer citizens were already awake. She felt eyes staring at her, but as she wiped around, all she saw was a tanned boy pulling a cart full of metal scraps. Staying where she was, she watched him for a moment, but as the wind started to bit at her bare skin, she started to run towards the palace once again.

Even before the guards saw Juliette turn the corner, one of them said, "Lady Juliette, you don't need to worry, no one came during the night." With a sigh of relief, Juliette let herself pant from the sprint.

"Milady," the second guard hesitated. Hopefully she wouldn't get mad. Adjusting his body and staff, so he looked taller and grander, he continued, "you should trust us to keep the book safe. It's been two weeks since you asked us the first time and nothin' has happened. You should go back home and rest, miss, you will be very busy soon." Juliette forced a smile.

"Of course, well that's kind of you to think of me, but I feel fine. Now excuse me," she said quickly with effort, trying to hide her irritation.

The golden haired girl dragged her feet back home, her lack of sleep was finally getting to her. The sun was starting to rise, though the street lights were still on. It must have been around five. As she went through alleys and past shops, Juliette kept thinking of her brother. Though the war between Casidor and Latenius was over, he hadn't come home. He was one of the soldiers that remained there, just in case. Now Latenius' crumbling streets were littered with the Casidor soldiers, much to her disappointment. She wanted to tell her brother of her dreams, but not even he was around. At least her best friends were arriving this afternoon. Yes. This thought made Juliette smile, but it lowered almost immediately. They were only coming this early in the summer for the wedding. The thought of this made Juliette throw her fist against the stone wall in front of her. She lowered herself against the stones slowly, she couldn't move even if she wanted to. Her head wobbled to rest against her shoulder and her eyelids drooped. Soon, she fell into a calming sleep.

* * *

It seemed like only moments later when someone shook Juliette awake. "Lady Juliette," he said with a kind voice, "are you alright?" After taking a few moments to compose herself and to realize where she was, she said, "y-yes, thank you Chase. I guess I fell asleep."

"What were you doing here, Lady Juliette? You had Prince Xavier worried. He wouldn't stop pacing around your living room until he was satisfied that I went out to look for you," Chase said with slight pride that Juliette caught. Juliette rose an eyebrow before snorting.

"Sorry. Stop teasing me, Chase. Xavier doesn't care one dime about be. And just how many times have I told you to stop calling me Lady Juliette? It's just Juliette, okay?" With Chase's help she got up and she then brushed off her blue shorts.

"That's not true, Lady Juliette. Prince Xavier really cares about you. He just doesn't show it." The two started walking towards Juliette's house in silence. Chase was just being kind, she knew that Xavier didn't have feelings like a normal person, she knew that no matter how much she tried he would never care for her. So that's why Juliette gave up. It had only been a silly school-girl crush anyway.

After almost an hour of walking slowly- or at least it felt slow- back to her cottage home, Juliette stood in front of the door. To be truthful, she was not looking forward to going in and having her mother rush over to her and exclaim all the worrying she went through in the last few hours. All Juliette wanted to do was fall against her bed and to never wake up until school started once again. _"Only six weeks left. Come on, Juliette, you can do this. You can-" _Juliette's own sigh broke her concentration of the pep talk. She looked over her shoulder, grateful that Chase was waiting patiently behind her. _"Let's just get this done with,"_ she thought before opening the door.

As soon as the wooden barrier started to open from the calm pace, it was swooped open by Juliette's mother. Her hair was still in a tight ponytail, with her hands covered in flour. White hands prints were placed against Juliette's naked arms as soon as she was pulled in the hut.

"Juliette, where were you? What were you thinking running off like that? You could have been hurt or raped or mugged or killed or...or even kidnapped to be sold as slave!" Mary yelled while shacking the teenage girl.

"Don't be so dramatic, mom. I was out for a walk when I fell asleep against the wall. As far as I know, no guy even touched a strain of the hair on my head, much less my more private areas," Juliette reassured. She tried to hide the blush that crept up her cheeks as she noticed Xavier fix his glasses behind her mother. "Oh, hello Prince Xavier." The fairy curtsied to her fiance, though she hardly went low enough to be respectful. The wizard just nodded his head before he moved back to the living room. Juliette had a sudden urge to stick her tongue out like a child.

"How can he be so nonchalant to me, his own fiance! How am I going to live with him when he won't even say, 'hello, Juliette. I'm glad nothing happened to you while you were out at four o'clock in the morning in an almost empty street while all the creeps are out looking for a prey. But don't worry, if anyone touched you I would have burned their head of with my awesome wizardry skills,' when I was just _rescued_. Is that so hard?" Mary looked at her daughter in disbelief. She wiped Juliette's shoulders, trying to brush off the four, only causing it spread.

"He's just not someone to show his emotions, Jules. That doesn't sound like something he say at all," the mother claimed.

"What do you mean? I made him cocky." Juliette's voice was innocent and she looked even more so as she tilted her head, her messy braid falling to the side.

"What happened? Are you sure nothing happened? Did you hit your head or something?" Mary went up to her daughter and checked her forehead. "It doesn't seem like you got a fever. Maybe you should go take a nap be-"

"No!" The genius yelled a little louder than intended. "I''m just not tired," she said slowly.

After hesitating, Mary forced a smile and said, "well that gives us more time to choose the bouquet before we move on to invitations with your prince. How does that sound?" Mary and Chase both saw Juliette deflate. They made eye contact quickly, but their eyes departed each others immediately.

"Why not, it's not like it isn't what we've been doing for the last few weeks." Slapping a hand to her forehead, Juliette wished that her friends would get here soon so she could have the next few days off.

* * *

The clanking heels sounded through the almost empty hallways. The busts* that were engraved in the brown walls seemed to watch her, creating a haunting feel down the corridor. No matter how many times she walked down this path, the ginger just could not get used to them. At the end of the path was a circular pit of flames enclosed by a grey stone. As she began to see the fire burn brighter, she noticed the tall girl. This caused the short apprentice to bound down the rest of the hall until she reached her closest friend. "How was the meeting with the Makers?" she yelled down the remainder of the hall with as much energy as she always did. It wasn't until the red-head got closer did she realize that the curly hair was in front of her, instead of the heart like face.

With fear, the girl slowly continued her way with her right hand reaching forward at an almost painful pace. As she clutched the loose sleeve that was part of the Apprentice's dress, the tall girl tense. It felt like an eternity, and she knew how that could feel, as the second girl turned to face the first. Tears stained her cheeks and they continued to drip down her chin in clumps. "What-" but the first girl was interrupted as the olive skinned girl collapsed to her knees. She clutched the ginger's skirt hem and continued to weep into it. The ginger didn't know any other way to react as she went to her own knees and wrapped the other into a reassuring embrace.

* * *

*I mean the statues that are from shoulders up that are usually in art galleries or museums, for those who don't know.

I hoped you all liked this chapter, I'm so happy that I finally got it up. Please tell me what you think in a **REVIEW**. Also, if anyone has any ideas for the cover for this book, please send suggestions. XD

M**ore accepted characters:**

**Pixies:**

-Verita by: Vasyl**  
**

**Witches:  
****  
**-Belladonna Wisteria by: FresianFire  
-Quinn Kelly Andros by: Winxcarrie  
-Melinda Mary Tino by: Winxcarrie

I don't need anymore witches so they will no longer be accepted. I could always use teachers and specialists, but I think that that's it. So thanks everyone! I don't really need anymore characters. Thanks all!


	5. Robe De Mariée Shopping

Hello everyone ;) I hope you are all having a great weekend. This is chapter #2, as you know. I'm sorry I didn't update last weekend. School is busy busy busy, but it's up today so that's all that matters!

Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. This is a fanmade story for fanfiction. (Would I really be writing stories for it if I did own Winx Club...?)

* * *

The room was damp and cold. This made the three girls shiver in their almost naked attire. With the dim, shivering light you could see the whip scars and bruises across their bare skin. Even more were hidden under their rags. One of them shifted her head slowly, making her stringy hair rub against her lifted arm. "Argo...Sora..." her voice was hoarse and speaking made her cough and moan. She tried to call her friends' names again, but as her mouth opened, another flickering torch started to come into sight. She quickly closed her hollow eyes and tried to sound as if she was sleeping. _"Remember to breath calmly," _she thought. It was too late, though, her breathing was restrained from her broken nose.

Her eyes shot open as soon as she felt the almost iced water hit her raw skin. Opening her mouth, she tried to swallow as much water as she could. Knowing the three witches in front of them, this was probably all the water they would get for a week. "You damn witch!" she swore to all of them in general, her voice as rough as it was before. "When are you going to let us go, _Darna_?" There was no hope in this question. Anyone would laugh at this girl for her foolish thoughts if there were.

The witch who stood in the middle of the other two smirked while tossing the bucket to the side. "When seeing you suffer will no longer be fun," she answered smoothly, as if someone had just ironed her dark purple leather jumpsuit. Next to the cuffed girl was a small moan. Shifting her head once again, she saw the red haired girl shiver as if she had a seizure.

"Argo..." she said with worry.

"Akemi, wh-," was the returned answer before it was interrupted by a harsh slap echoing in the cave-like room. Argo stared at nothing for a few moments with her mouth wide. She would have clutched her cheek if they were not shackled to the wall.

"Silence!" the grey haired girl yelled. "You will not speak unless spoken to! Do you understand?" The girl next to Darna looked up from filing her nail with a bored expression plastered against her snow skin.

"Gale, be careful. Your nails aren't fully dried yet," the remaining witch said. Darna smacked her forehead.

"Shut up, Ume. Your fashion tips are not important," she all but roared. The blackette just shrugged her shoulders.

"Why are you Ancestors doing this to us?" Akemi asked before being answered by a punch to the jaw. Blood trickled down her lips. It tasted as metallic as it did last night. "Let me rephrase that," she clucked. Akemi tried to be as patient as she could at the moment as she glared at the Ancestors. "Why are you torturing us while you should be planning how to get a new power? Don't look at me like that, Darna, I know you better than you realize."

The room was silent for long minutes. Gale and Ume were staring at Darna with their mouths hanging open. The witch of darkness just stared at Akemi. Suddenly the room filled with laughter. It wasn't soft or sweet like a child's, but cold and cruel. Like nothing she had ever heard. "Yes, I suppose you do." Walking up to Akemi, Darna grabbed her chin and pushed it upwards to an angle of most discomfort. The witch in front of Darna smirked and tried to bite at Darna's hand, causing her to chuckle even more. "We are the same, are we not?" At this point, every witch in the room except Akemi and Darna, who were still glaring at each other, were confused. Darna dropped the pointed chin with force and turned sharply on her leather heels. Walking away, Darna waved her hand lazily and commanded, "let Airigon and Sora leave."

Ume and Gale glanced at each other before yelling in unison, "what?"

"Drain their powers first, you each take one. Akemi and I will have a chat later tonight, one to one. Witch to witch. Friend to friend."

"I will never be your friend! Never!" The witch of fire pulled on her shackles with all the strength that remained in her battered body. This stopped Darna for a while. Her pale face turned a little as she smirked.

"We shall see." She flicked her wrist once again before stalking off, ignoring Akemi's shouts.

Gale and Ume both went in front of the acceptable witches before placing their long, thin hands against clammy necks. Their long, freshly painted nails grazed the dried blood before a pair of shrieks filled the silent summer day. All Akemi could do was watch.

* * *

"How about these, Lily of the Valley is a beautiful flower," Juliette said as her blue finger-nailed finger pointed to the catalogue. Mary sighed in frustration.

"Absolutely not, Juliette. This is a royal wedding, not some country folk's. Lilies of the Valleys are not fancy enough. What about these Casablanca Lilies, they are absolutely gorgeous!"

"Too many people are allergic. We shouldn't risk it." The teenage girl leaned back against her chair and groaned. Mary tossed the catalogue to the side before grabbing yet another one.

"Can't we take a break, mom? I'm tired," Juliette said while stifling a yawn.

"You're Alfea friends will arrive shortly and we still haven't chosen flowers for your wedding, do you think this is a good time to take a break?" There was no reply. "Juliette, what's wrong? What's upsetting you?" Once again, the fairy made no attempt to explain. Mary closed the book and stared at her daughter. "I've known you your entire life, I know when something is up. I'm your mother so you can tell me."

"I don't want to get married," she said simply. Mary closed her eyes before motioning her to continue. "I'm not even seventeen yet and I have to tie the knot with some guy who can't even look at me without making me feel stupid? I can hardly be in the same room as him without feeling judged. He made it perfectly clear that he was not interested last year and he was the enemy to Latenius. I'm not royalty, why do I have to marry him so this war can finally end?"

"It's not fair, I know, but it is your duty. You are the closest we have to be a possible wife to Prince Xavier so you will marry him. If I were you, I would stop complaining and be honoured. You will be a princess and have a wonderful life. Even if Xavier doesn't love you, he will protect you from everything that comes your way. That is more than can be said from other men."

Juliette remained quiet. She knew who her mother was talking about. Mary loved her husband, but he did not return the favour. She was just a prize to him.

"You need to know this, Juliette. Love doesn't really exist. It's a dream. A fantasy. But if it came true, it wouldn't be a dream anymore. All you can hope for in a marriage is respect and equality. That is the closest thing you will get to love," Mary explained bitterly. Juliette watched the back of her mother as she poured herself some more coffee.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," Chase said as he walked into the kitchen. Juliette looked at him with her mouth slightly open. "But there are some girls at the door saying they came here to party." It was awkward standing there. Chase knew that there was something going on between the two ladies. Maybe he should have let them talk before interfering.

"Thanks Chase," Juliette said with brightness he knew was fake. The fairy looked to her mother, but when she made no motion to talk anymore, Juliette got up and left to the front door.

As soon as they could see Juliette, Destinée ran to enfold the fairy of telekinesis into a hug. Juliette wrapped her arms around her and soon Aria and Paige joined in. As they let go, Juliette said with a genuine smile, "I'm so glad you're here."

"You're kidding, right? We would be here even if we weren't invited," Aria cheered. Juliette smiled at her friends joy.

"It's so good to see you all. It's perfect timing. We've been so busy so it will be nice to have a break. Come on, I'll show you to the best Inn. I hope you don't mind, we just have no room in this place," Juliette said while closing the front door.

"It's fine, Juliette. We're only sleeping there, anyway. Be sure that we will be with you every other moment," Paige said with a smile tugging on her lips.

"I'm glad, it's been weird not seeing you all for weeks. Come on. It's not far from here. I hope you don't mind that we have to go look at dresses later today."

The fairy of life and death looked at Juliette with a raised eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? I've been looking forward to wedding dress shopping for months, ever since you announced the engagement."

* * *

After signing in in the Frederick Inn, the four teenagers started to walk to the shopping district. It was almost heavenly being with her three closest friends. They all knew that she did not want to go along with the wedding, but Juliette was happy that they did not to try to convince her that it was the right thing to do. Despite all the discomfort, she was going to marry Xavier no matter what happened. She promised herself that. "Here it is," Juliette said, "the best wedding dress shop on Latenius." The fairies looked at the building and gasped.

Lights were surrounding every part of the shop and it was almost blinding. "Are you sure this is the right place and not a casino?" Aria asked, clearly confused. Juliette couldn't help but giggle.

"Trust me, I've been here enough times to know that this is definitely not a casino. I have felt like drinking something while in there, though," she all but half joked. "Come on, we just have dress fittings. We shouldn't be here for too long." The girls walked through the door and were welcomed by tall lady.

"Juliette! Welcome back, love. Let me guess, these are the bridesmaid? I'm Brianna. I'm helping Juliette with her dress fittings. Please, come in. Kiva, get some tea for these ladies. Lady Grey, I think," Brianna said. She all but forced them to sit down. "The same Veltzer style?"

"Yes, thank you," Juliette said. Brianna winked at her before pushing her into the change room.

"I'll be right back with the dress." The two girls left, leaving Paige, Destinée and Aria alone with a china cup each.

* * *

Aria whistled with her hands on her hips. "You look great Juliette; Xavier will just eat you up. The entire wedding he'll be waiting for the honeymoon."

"Oh shut up, Aria," Destinée said while nudging the girl. The four girls couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Don't be ridiculous. Besides, the honeymoon is on an archaeology site in some remote place in Casidor," Juliette replied while flattening her dress.

"How romantic," Paige said drily.

"It doesn't matter, this is a political marriage anyway."

"Juliette, the bridesmaids can try their dresses on now. Just this-" Brianna started before turning around as the door opened. "Oh, welcome to Robe De Mariée. If I can be of any assistants, be sure to ask. Are you looking for a design in particular?"

The girl looked up at Brianna, who was much taller than her. Her face was blank and she looked upset. "Yes," she started. She reached down below her extremely short shorts without removing her eyes from Brianna's. Her ginger curls embraced her china glass cheeks as she pulled out a gun from nowhere. "You can put your hands up." Brianna let out a quiet shriek as she stumbled back while the gun was held close to her face. "This place is now under my control, understand?"

* * *

So, what do you think? What is with this ginger girl, why does she keep popping up? And why does she want control of Robe De Mariée (Wedding Dress in French)? Well I know, but you don't XD

I hope this was a good chapter and that you didn't think it was too rushed. Any comments or suggestions, please review them to me! Also, more suggestions for a cover is welcomed!

For all of you who actually care, I do not believe in what Mary said about love being a fantasy. I'm a hopeless romantic and it took effort to write that part out, because I believe that everyone has their one person that they are meant to be with. Yeah, yeah, I know what you are thinking. Oh and Lady Grey tea is my LIFE! It is the best tea EVER!

**Please Review! **


	6. Little Stalker

Hey everyone, I am back! YAY! Before I say anything else, I'm so so sorry that it's been two weeks since I've updated. That's horrible! I will try my best to update tomorrow, but I can't promise anything because of a big math test on Tuesday and a really important project due Monday. On a different note, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club, obviously.

* * *

The girl looked up at Brianna, who was much taller than her. Her face was blank and she looked upset. "Yes," she started. She reached down below her extremely short shorts without removing her eyes from Brianna's. Her ginger curls embraced her china glass cheeks as she pulled out a gun from nowhere. "You can put your hands up." Brianna let out a quiet shriek as she stumbled back while the gun was held close to her face. "This place is now under my control, understand?"

Paige looked at the commotion that was taking place at the front of the store. She couldn't believe her eyes. Jumping off her stool, her tea crashed to the floor. Seeing someone's life in risk sent her back to January when she...Paige gulped before her blue eyes hardened. She looked to her friends and it seemed they all had the same thing in mind. Nodding their heads in unison, they all shouted out, "Winx!" The rest of the store looked at them with awe while the ginger girl looked at them before starting to laugh. It would have been sweet sounding, like a newborn's, if she was not holding a gun. After several moments, the usual bliss still had not surrounded them. Paige looked down at her body and gasped when she was still wearing her blue polka-dot dress.

The ginger girl came up to them with a smile plastered against her face. It didn't look sinister, but as if she was pitying them. "Your transformations won't work. I put a force field, per say, around the store that steals all abilities of transforming and Winx magic. Wizards and witches won't be able to use magic either. Is that an inconvenience?" she said with a teasing edge.

"No, I'm sure we can take you without our magic abilities," Paige said. The ginger leaned back with an exasperated sigh.

"Can you hold that thought for a moment?" she asked lazily before turning herself on her heels. "Alright, who called the police?" Everyone remained quiet. There was no speaking, no shuffling of feet and certainly no sirens.

"What are you talking about?" Juliette asked with her arms crossed. The curly haired girl put up a finger and stayed like that for several seconds when a loud signal was faintly heard.

"So who called them?" Once again, there was no answer. The girl just shrugged her shoulders as she walked to the front door with her gun out. Everyone stood where the were as the police officers got out of their vehicles and cautiously walked to the glass window. Surprisingly, the girl opened up the door wide.

"Can I help you?" she said lazily. She looked like she was about to fall asleep. Before she could even let out another peep, the officer turned her around sharply and handcuffed her wrists.

"You are now under arrest in the name of Latenius Law. Anything you saw can and will be used in court," the officer said as more began to file in, guns out.

The ginger drooped her head with another loud sigh. "Officer," she started before taking a deep breath. "You are messing with Makers business. I suggest you free me at once and leave." The officer just snorted.

"Look, mister," she ordered, "if you don't believe me just go into my pocket and take out the badge." The officer nodded to the a tall officer next to him. The blonde girl started to reach her hand towards the ginger but hesitaded as the short girl said with a wink, "don't worry. I don't bite." The officer looked to her superior with a faint flush.

"Go ahead deputy," he ordered. The blonde grabbed a leathery badge from the shortest shots she had ever seen and showed her boss. After a short pause, he nodded. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Apprentice Toorilla."

After the handcuff's were pulled off, Toorilla waved her hands downwards like an anime character. "It's no trouble. You were just doing your job. But we are on a tight schedule so if you don't mind leaving..." she dragged on slowly. With that, the officers bowed, the blonde a little more reluctant, and left.

The girl turned sharply on her heels to face the four best friends. As lazy as before, she asked, "so...where were we?"

"H-how did you...why did he leave?" Aria stuttered with panic. What type of police force runs from a teenage girl who only had a gun? They didn't even run, they just...left!

"They know what's best. Ignore them." Toorilla waved her hand downwards once again.

"Come on," Paige said while getting into a fighting position, "we can take her."

"I agree," Destinée nodded. "It's four against one." Aria, used to fighting without any magic, charged forward without a word. She lifted her right leg and kicked the gun out of the short girls hand in a swift movement.

"One for the dancer," Aria said gaily while a grin spread ear to ear. As Aria clapped at her own attack, the enemy didn't hesitate to throw a punch at her jaw. The two girls continued to exchange kicks and punches, which were usually blocked or dodged. Aria's three best friends watched with amazement; they had no idea Aria was so skilled and the other girl was nothing to scoff at either. Neither Aria nor Toorilla seemed to be breaking a sweat.

"Wow, I'm impressed Aria," Toorilla said as she ducked a high kick.

"Thanks, same here. Wait- how do you know my name?" she added after the realization hit her.

"I know everything about you and your friends," she replied. "I'm your little stalker."

It couldn't be. Aria froze. She had heard that before. As a leg swooped underneath her own, she fell down on her back. There was a quiet crack but Aria knew that nothing was broken at the moment. "You're..." suddenly Aria screamed. She sat bolt up and grabbed her forehead. "What a moron! When the officer said your name I should have guessed. You're-" Before Aria could countinue she was interrupted by soft lips pressing against her own.

Aria was in shock. The girl she was fighting only a moment ago was...kissing her? It didn't last long, though, definitely not long enough for her to react. Toorilla moved her lips towards Aria's ear and whispered, "shhhh. Let's see if your friends can guess this as well." Pushing herself off the cold tile, Toorilla marched closer to the other fairies. When she was just a few meters away, she placed both her hands against the ground and almost immediately the room disappeared around them.

Everything was now a misty navy blue with gold dots all over the place. "What the hell?" Destinée swore. "Where are we? And where is everyone?" The hadn't noticed it at first, but there was no one but the five of them. _Robe De Mariée_ employees and costumers were all gone.

"You are in an illusion," Toorilla replied. Destinée turned around to see the girl right behind her, instead of in front like she previously was. "But it's stronger than an illusion. It is not reality, but it is not false." Switching locations so she was next to Aria, she continued, "she is done here. Until you each complete my challenges you will not be able to leave this place."

"Me? Why me?" Aria asked as she began to fade until the darkness swallowed her.

"What are you doing?" Paige yelled. Her fists were clenched with the want to hit something. This was just too frustrasting. Toorilla remained quiet. Paige looked to Juliette then Destinée, it seemed they all had the same thing in mind. Nodding their heads, they started to run towards Toorilla from all different angles. Unfortunetaly, she disappeared and reappeared right behind them.

"Before you girls break a sweat, and we don't want to ruin your make up, think about the situation. Don't try to beat me; instead, try to get out of here. That's your best chance. This is my world. I am its creator. You have lots of time, but I don't want to spend another eternity doing something so I'll give you a hint." The three remaining girls looked at her curiously. Suddenly a pair of lime green eyes was all they could see. Toorilla's face clouded over and was replaced by the stars. Juliette gasped.

"You were there! The one with the curls a-and the hands. The eyes were there too...I know you!" Juliette exclaimed incoherentely, a rare scene. The ginger returned and smiled before snapping her fingers, making the darkness envelop Juliette into an embrace.

"W-what?" Paige questioned, now completely lost.

"Two down, two more to go! This is great! Keep it up!" Toorilla clapped playfully.

"Is this just a game to you?" Destinée demanded.

"No, but I must admit it's a little fun to see you squirm. You two are so confused and it's just too funny. You almost got it too! Here, I'll help you two again! Remember Astrel's dying words? What stranger did she mention? She didn't finish my name but that doesn't really matter." Destinée and Paige looked at each other in need of help. They replayed the memories in their head, no matter the pain. Destinée looked up automatically.

"Are you the girl she warned us about?" Destinée asked out of no where. For once, the ginger looked uncertain.

"She didn't _warn_ you about me. Actually, she warned _me_ about what was going to happen. I guess that is right...kinda," Toorilla added while snapping her fingers again.

Now it was just Paige and Toorilla. They both stared each other down for a long time. Paige was stuck here and still had no idea of what was going on. She was now on the borderline of worry. Toorilla walked up to her cautiously; not wanting the other girl to get scared or angry.

"Nothing has happened to your friends," she said soothingly while slowly lifting up her hand. "I sent them back to the shop. You are the last one here but don't worry, I'm not going to put you through a test. Unlike your other friends, you have been able to forget the events of Skylar's death. No, don't flinch. That is the darkest day of your life and forgeting stuff like that makes it easier. I understand, really, I do. Before we return to the wedding shop I want you to realize that what you are doing is a mistake. It is your biggest fault. It's going to pull you down so far that you won't be able to swim to the top. You'll end up like me and you don't want to be like me. You're going to be the dead fish swimming at the top but never reaching the shores if you continue." Finally she placed both her hands on Paige's shoulders and squeezed gently.

"Is that all you have to say?" Paige croaked.

"I'm telling you right now Paige. Forgetting is a weakness. Taking the easier path can end up being the longest and toughest. Do this for yourself. Be selfish for once. Stop ignoring the pain and instead push it away. Look past the darkness and see the sun shinning brighter and brighter the more you fight for what you love. Find something in you that's worth the pain you go through until all you have is scars."

"Stop! You don't know anything about me or the pain of killing a best friend," Paige yelled. She pushed Toorilla away who stumbled backwards.

"I have gone through more than you realize," she said darkly with her eyes shinning. It was silent for an awkward amount of time. "It doesn't rain you know. There's no rain there. No more dancing or singing with the storms. Only the sun and moon shinning down on you. No cloudy days that understand everything."

"W-what?"

"Come on, let's go. Your friends are worried and you don't seem to understand what I'm saying," Toorilla said. There was a quiet snapping sound before the darkness was lifted and Paige found herself on cool tile. After the headahce died down, she looked around and found that she was back in the shop. It was almost empty, all there was was seven girls.

Before any of Paige's friends could rush to the girl, there was a sharp "Lia" behind them. A olive skinned girl marched over to Toorilla with her red skirt dancing around her hips. Her hair was messy, and long with the fierce colour of auburn. It caressed her heart like face as she marched over. "Where have you been?" she demanded to the ginger.

"I was just talking to Paige," she answered with a strange happiness. Paige looked at her in surprise...this was the serious girl only moments ago?

"What about? You should have been here for a while now," the girl said.

"The rain." The simple answer didn't seem to satisfy the girl but before she could reply a blackette walked in the door.

"Oh, she's back. Hi Lia," she said.

"Hi Dom!" she answered cheerily.

"Wait, who are you people?" Juliette demanded the answer more than asked. The three strangers looked at each other before turning to the other fairies.

"I'm Janice Vesta," the auburn haird girl replied.

"I'm Cecilia Toorilla," the ginger cheered with her eyes squinted from her grin. "Just call me Lia, though."

"And I'm Dominique Declare and if you call me DeeDee I'll shoot you all," the blackette replied. Lia hugged Dominique and laughed.

"Oh I've missed your humour DomDom," Lia giggled. Dominique let her big, turquoise eyes twitch before yelling, "it's either Dom or Dominique, got it you shrimp?" This caused Lia to pout.

"Why is everyone so angry suddenly?"

"It's because of the lack of sleep we get with you watching your movies so loud everynight," Janice replied calmly.

"I can't help it that I'm a Kataang fan," Lia suddenly yelled. "There soooooooo cute. He's always trying to impress her and he loves her sooooooooo much that it's too heartwarming for me to handle. Fluff central!" Dominique slapped her forehead.

"Oh for crying out loud, we know! You only told us over breakfast this morning about four times and a million times before."

"If you don't mind...could you focus on us here? What are you doing taking over a store and scaring everyone like that?" Paige asked.

"I apologize, we are your protectors. Sent from the higher ups of the Sendero Circle. We are here to watch over you on your path to becoming the Sirens," Janice replied.

* * *

Well I hope you liked it! This chapter actually took me a really long time to write. I skipped dinner to write this and didn't end up eating until nine. But it's totally worth it! I wasn't hungry anyway, all I need is my chocolate supply XD

As you can probably tell, I finally have a cover up! It's the same one as the last book but instead of being pink, it's yellow with a "burnt" mark that looks more like a red blob. It's supposed to look like it's up "in flame" because of the deaths that occurred in the last book.

**I have a poll up that will help me make this story better for you to read so pretty please check it out!**

I know people hate authors asking this, but I don't really care:

**Please Review!**


	7. Veria Metai

Hi everyone! I present to you the improved chapter 4! YAY! I think it's much better. I would like to thank Mindblower1915 for beta-ing this chapter for. So thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club, obviously.

* * *

Juliette drummed her fingers against the arm of the couch as she glared at the two girls in front of her. The silence was more than just awkward; it was uncomfortable and it felt thick and suffocating. Saying that they were unhappy was an understatement. Sighing and rolling her emerald green eyes at the same time, Aria uncurled herself from the corner of the three seated couch and let her feet dangle to the carpeted ground.

"Remind us again why we should listen to you," she said coldly. Dominique's wrists tightened into a fist, but before she could let out her anger, Janice put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"And what the hell are Protectors? If we had people protecting us, they sure aren't doing a good job. Two of them are dead and their friends too? If that's not the definition of a failure, I don't know what is," Paige joined in. Janice sighed thickly.

"Dominique, do you want to go get the luggage? I fear that this will take longer than expected," Janice said. The blackette nodded stiffly. As she walked out of the room, she sent a fleeting glare to the soldier who stood behind Xavier.

"Protectors," Janice started again, "are people that look after a group of people so that their path goes in the right direction. Everyone has a path. Some protectors have multiple...subjects, depending how many subjects end up on the same path. Cecilia, Dominique and I have two subjects each and together they creates the Sirens, which is now just you four. You four have a dangerous path and that's why we have so few to protect. Do you understand it so far?

"Wait, what do you mean we have a path? Can't we choose our own?" Paige asked.

"Hmm? What? I guess so, but even before you are born you already have a destiny. So if you continue down the path that reaches to the success of your destiny then no, you don't choose. It is your decision; however, if you want to give up when it gets too hard for you, if you don't like where it is headed, you turn around, or if you go down the dark path can fail destiny," Janice continued.

"No pressure," Cecilia added as she waltzed into the room with a platter filled with tea cups and biscuits, Mary following behind.

"Janice makes it sound so difficult for the...what was it you called them, subjects? It's not. It's an adventure and, unless you're completely alone without even a shadow, in the dead of the night with werewolves and the full moon out, you'll be totally fine. It's fun. And then there are always those awesome bromances; Merthur, Legolas and Gimli, Merry and Pippin, Frodo and Sam, Joe and Cary. Going down the right path is like icing a cake...never mind, icing a cake is actually really hard," Cecilia added.

"So what you're saying," Paige said slowly, completely ignoring Cecilia," is that everyone has a path that they might share with others. There are people that are called Protectors that watch out for the...subjects along their path."

"Isn't that what she said?" Cecilia asked after chugging the scalding tea. "Good lords, best tea evah!"

"You three are our so called Protectors, but why should we believe any of this? You could be lying for all we know," Paige continued to object.

"Why would we try to deceive you?" Janice flipped her hair, creating a soft jingle from the beaded red highlighted strands rattling together, and then crossed her arms.

"I don't know," Paige shrugged, suddenly very tired. "Because you can. Because you think it's fun. Someone paid or threatened you. Blackmail. Maybe you've got a sick humour and think it's fun to torture people. In case you have to. As you can tell, there are lots of reasons, but it doesn't really matter!"

"Community."

"What?" Janice turned to face Cecilia.

"Community. Season three, episode fifteen: Origins of Vampire Mythology. Paige just quoted Jeff," Cecilia answered mater a factually while munching on another gingersnap.

"I question your sanity more than occasionally," Janice stated.

"The Makers asked you if you wanted me in your group and you accepted. Your sanity is in question as well. Not by me," Cecilia added.

"You just...you never think before you talk, do you?"

"Who are the Makers?" Destinée interrupted. "You've mentioned them before and we have no idea who they are."

"They are the ones that control Ata'i," Cecilia simply said. After looking at the questioning looks of the fairies and Xavier and Chase, she continued, "right. You don't know what that means. Ata'i means fate while Itai'i means destiny. Veria Metai is both fate and destiny combined. Don't worry about it, I was confused about it for months and Veria Metai was a topic brought up everyday."

They let the words sink in before coming to the terms that, like before, they still had no reason to trust in the trio. The six exchanged silent messages through their eyes, not realizing that they were being laughed at.

Suddenly, Juliette looked up. "Wait, why do we need to learn to trust you three? We can just kick you out. This is my home after all."

"I thought that would never cross your mind at this point. You were taking so long. "After stifling a mix between a laugh and a yawn, Janice continued, "that's not really an option, I'm afraid. You see, we have a schedule to stick to and if you don't learn to trust us in the next thirty seconds, we will have to take you by force. Fighting will not be of any help, so for all our sakes, don't try to get away. Anytime now, Lia."

The said girl was already placing her china cup down calmly and brushing crumbs off of her shorts. She clapped her hands and black lightning sparked around then. Immediately after saying "river dance," Cecilia placed her hands against the carpeted ground. A dark light shot up from around her. When it disappeared, the group was face to face with seven shadow-looking monsters.

As quick as he could, Chase jumped in front of Xavier and Juliette and pushed them aside as he took out some of his shuriken.

"Chase, we don't have time for this," Cecilia said lazily. "You're coming with us so you can protect your OTP at the same time if you want. Grab one and get out!" As the words were spoken, the shadows lunged after one of the fairies or specialists. All except one. The dark shadow roared before morphing into a small pup. Lia smiled and after picking it up, she tucked it under her arm.

"Mary," she advised, "I suggest you get out of this house as well." Without waiting for anyone, Lia walked out of the house and the shadows and a reluctant mother followed.

After a few minutes outside and of struggling against the phantoms, the sound of clattering hooves continued to get louder and louder. Twisting her neck to see what the ruckus was about, Paige gasped as a large carriage got closer and closer with two horses pulling it. "What the hell is that?" Paige asked.

"It's what we call a horse and buggy. This one just fits more than the two people, unlike the original. Thank goodness for magic," Cecilia explained while almost choking the puppy.

"Why is it here?"

"It's going to take us to the training grounds." The shadow now started chewing on Cecilia's tank top before moving onto her ginger curls. "Ooooh, doggies are so cute!"

"When are the shadows going to let us go?" Xavier asked impatiently.

"Probably when we lock you up in the carriage."

"That sounds pretty creepy, you know that, right?" Destinée asked. Cecilia just smiled.

"Miss Mary," Dominique said while closing the carriage door. She then walked over to Juliette's mother. "You understand what is happening now, so I won't prolong it. Ever since Astrel's death, the Schedule has been horribly shaken and the best way to fix Ata'i is to continue down the path just like before. Now the road will be a lot worse and the danger is higher, but we still need the Sirens. I cannot promise Juliette's return, or any of these girls, but I do promise that while Janice, Cecilia and I are still living no harm will come to them. It will be lonely and you will be miserable and worried most of the time and I'm sorry. We explained this to the king and queen and you _will_ stay with them to avoid danger. Because your husband probably won't be comforting during this time, Lia got you a dog."

As if on queue, the shadow dog jumped out of Cecilia's arms and ran towards Mary and Dominique. As the dog ran closer, the glossy pelt slowly melted off and was replaced by brown, black and white fur. "She's a Bernese Mountain Dog. Her name is Mishka. She's very friendly, but you might want to wash her. She's been hiding in the nameless world of the shadows for a couple days now," Cecilia said.

"T-thank you," Mary said in shock. "I know you will look after her, thank the Sendero Circle for me. They couldn't have sent better Apprentices, I'm sure." Cecilia blushed as she looked down at her feet.

"We should be off now. The training grounds are far," Janice said, coming up from behind them.

"Goodbye. Be good Juliette and be patient. These girls know exactly what they are doing. And trust them, even if you don't think you should. Mom knows best," Mary waved. Juliette wanted to run after and give her mother a hug, but with the shadow still holding her over it's shoulder it was hard.

"We have to go now. Come on." Cecilia ordered her shadows to put the fairies and specialists down in the carriage. As everyone reluctantly got comfortable, Dominique and Janice up front with the horses, there was a loud bang, frightening the animals.

"What was that?" Destinée said while turning her body to look out the window behind her.

"I'm sorry Juliette, your house kinda just blew up," Cecilia apologized nervously, but when there was no reply, she relaxed.

Destinée watched Juliette's face and sighed. She hooked arms with her friend and squeezed Juliette's hand with her own. She then kicked Xavier, who sat across from Juliette. When he looked up, Destinée motioned towards his fiance with her head. He pushed up his glasses and looked away. Destinée rolled her eyes at Xavier's action, but put her head against Juliette's shoulder and closed her smokey eyes. Meaning Destinée didn't see Xavier's foot move towards Juliette's.

The fairy of telekinesis lightly blushed under the airy contact, but her watery eyes didn't leave the house that crackled with sparks and crumbled around as the flames gnawed at the wood.

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I hope you all liked it. Please review, which hopefully you can do even if you already did review the previous version of this chapter. If not...*cough*anonymous review*cough* Thanks for all the support, and I'm glad you guys/girls...humans? told me to re-write it. I couldn't have agreed more.

New update: 2013-01-01

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!


	8. Memories of the Fallen: part 1

Hello my lovely readers...what, uh...nice pitchforks and torches you have there. Very...uh sharp and pointy...and wow, look at that flame burn. I'm already sweating...

Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club blah blah blah, you know the drill.

* * *

At first, the feeling of rain against their cracked lips was heavenly. They let their bodies drink it in, feel the cleansing drizzle with enough pressure to wash off the dried blood. But after they drank their fill of falling water, the two witches were soon miserable. The ripped dresses brought them no warmth as it clung to their starved bodies.

They both wandered into the unknown forest while hugging themselves. "What do you think they will do with her?" The voice was hoarse and it cracked in between the coughing fits. As she removed her dirt stained hand from her mouth, a thin trail of blood made it's way down her lips and covered her hand. Before it dried, the rain washed it away like a bad memory. Only it wasn't a memory. It was the present leading them to the future.

"I don't know, Sora. What would they want with her instead of all three of us?" The second girl rubbed her shoulders quicker as the morning before came back as a nightmare. Sora moved her white hair, the blue and purple dye long gone, from gluing to her cheeks before shaking her head. With a moan of exhaustion, they continued their search out of the forest.

After what felt like forever, the forest began to clear until it was nothing but shrubs or the occasional tree. The two girls continued to stumble forward, but without the threes hanging over top, the sky pelted them with water even harder. Their scars and bruises thanked them with opening wounds and even more pain. "Argo," Sora murmured as she caught the said girl's arm.

"I know, I know. We need to find shelter. But there is nothing around here." Sora continued to tug at her arm. "What?"

"There is someone...Argo watch out!" The red-haired girl fell against Sora's shoulders with her eyes fluttering shut. Sora turned, trying to catch the one who knocked Argo unconscious. Unfortunately, after only a few spins, she became dizzy. Leaning over while clutching her stomach, she rid herself of the little food in her belly. As she was vomiting, a slick figure came up from behind her. She felt her eyes get heavy and suddenly close while she tumbled to the wet grass with a thud. Everything went black.

* * *

Her pink ponytail swung against the back of her neck as she stormed down the stone halls full of scientist and Makers. It was a rare sight, the Makers interacting with the scientist, especially since they were a mix of different divisions. When it wasn't the monthly meeting between the two ranks, where the scientist shared their findings with the higher ups, it hardly ever happened. They just didn't mix well. But as she rushed towards the Lab 39, she ignored the questions that flooded her head. A mystery for another day.

As she neared her destination she slowed down until she was in front of the entrance. With a pause of breathing deeply, she entered the room. The overwhelming amount of white temporarily blinded her but she continued to look around the room anyway. The room was filled with scientists in lab coats rushing around or taking observations. There were guns sleeping on the desks, some of their parts scattered like bones across the tables, while some rested on the wall ready to be tested and some were ready to be shifted off to the Tenth Division. As she looked around for the familiar face she was handed a white lab coat, which she grabbed and put on distastefully.

"You don't seem to like the amount of the white in this room." The girl immediately turned, her hot pink dress and lab coat dancing around her knees.

"It seems a little excessive, sir," she replied while bowing formally. The man laughed.

"I trust you came to the labs in search of something instead of commenting on the interior design," he said.

"Yes, I just came to ask if the rumours about my subject is true or not. Sir," she added.

"There are many rumours about your subject, my dear Aliums. But you are here for the most recent one, I suppose."

"You are right, of course, sir," Aliums nodded.

"Well I am sorry to tell you that this rumour does happen to be true. As you know, Aliums, Makers do not have the power over death and as the knife drew closer to her neck, we lost connection with her soul. She did come back to us as she dropped her knife, but connections between Makers and Subject are broken oh so easily." Aliums tried not to show her rising anger and instead tightened her hands into a fist.

"Why was I0 not told of this...development?" Aliums had to force her voice not to portray her emotions, but judging by the growing smirk on the man's chubby face it did not seem to be successful.

"It was no longer found of any importance. Aliums, drop it." His voice was harsh and demanding, shocking the surrounding scientists who pretended not to be eavesdropping as they worked. As an after thought, he added, "you care deeply for this girl."

"Yes, I do, sir," she answered even though it was not a question. "Like she was my daughter."

"But she isn't, is she?" He continued to smirk and Aliums suddenly felt a wave of a nauseating amount of anger that she could not see his eyes. No one ever saw his eyes. _"Why does he hide them by squinting?"_ Aliums thought. She took a deep breath to calm herself down before answering.

"No, sir."

"You cannot have children, can you?"

"No, sir."

"Because of the war between your people and Eraklyon."

"Perhaps, sir." There was pause in the pattern. He could tell he was close...just one more prod.

"You really are a cold-hearted bitch, aren't you?" Aliums' lime green eyes widened for a flash of a moment but returned to their normal size as an almost immediate shock filled the room. As Aliums glared at the workers, they quickly bowed their heads as if they had been working hard the entire time.

"I have been called that, sir." This caused the higher-up to bark with laughter. He put one of his elbows against the table in front of him and leaned against it in an almost mocking manner.

"I hope you are a good dog, Aliums. You might get shot, or maybe just drown and you are already so far out into the ocean. And we don't want you to die before swimming to the other side where someone can save you with a cup of tea and a warm blanket, telling you everything is alright."

"Is that a threat, sir?"

The man shrugged. "You decide. Let's just call it a warning for now." With a sigh he brushed back his gelled hair.

"Do you know that most of the rumours surrounding your subject are true?"

"I've known her since she was a newborn. I know the truths and the lies, sir," Aliums replied. Her fists continued to tightened. Gashes started to form on her palms as she tried to control her anger.

"Then why did you come and ask about the rumours?" You know them all as if they were your own. You knows she's gay. You know she's a murderer and a slut. You know her true power and now you know that she has drawn her own blood. Why, dear Maker Aliums, did you ask me when you know everything about her?" The head of the department looked intrigued. He had both his elbows on the table now with his head relaxed on his hands as he stared, slightly amused, at the girl on the other side of the gun sleeping in between them.

"Because I was hoping it was false. I don't want to think about her almost committing suicide." Aliums was now too overwhelmed with nausea that she couldn't force out formalities.

"I know you cannot see them, most cannot. It takes a keen eye with both a strong heart and a strong soul to see the Mark of Death. She knows of one who can see the triple star and hollow moon. One of her partners. She is a subject to your partner, Helen. But your subject is not stupid. She would then be shunned. She covers the markings with make up. Simple human cosmetics. Even her dear friend would not see it; her power is not developed in seeing tattoos and; therefore, is blind to the power hidden by Earthen aesthetics."

The elderly man suddenly sighed impatiently. "I'm glad you have come to speak with me. This saves a lot of my time. I know of your interference. No, do not even try to deny it Maker Aliums. I know you are helping the sirens and I must advise you to stop. You have your own subjects and they are most certainly not the Sirens." Aliums was, for once, lost for words.

The shape shifter coughed. And coughed again. And again. And then she cleared her throat. "I apologize, sir. I sometimes think I am as I was twelve years ago, looking after Skylar just like her mother asked of me. It may have been years ago, but it was the first time I discovered my true power and was independent. I suppose I was lost in my memories."

"I assume that is why you went to Alfea to continue looking after her and seeing if there could be anything done about her dragon flame? Surely you must have known that there was nothing you could have done and she was going to die within months."

"I did, sir, but I could not tell Queen Bloom that. She has lived with enough guilt in her life that it just would not be healthy to make her live through more. I wanted to give her hope for even those few months."

"That is kind, Aliums, but you have caused a great amount of disturbance in the Sendero Circle. Make sure that his does not happen again."

"I apologize for my mistakes. I promise that this will not happen again, Maker Frederick." With that, the hot pink haired woman took off her coat and she threw it at the scientists who had handed it to her, not knowing that the buttons had hit him the eye, blinding him for who cares how long, as she left.

* * *

The golden cloak snaked off of his thin body and landed with a soft thud against the tile. A draft of wind immediately hugged his naked body and he drew his breath in as his foot came in contact with the cool pool of water. He slowly sank into the bath and walked to the other side of the pool where a bench awaited him. Waves created by his movements lapped around his body for a few minutes, but it was completely still after that. Nothing moved, not even a rising chest as he breathed. The wizard loved the feel of the cold water...it made him feel alive and young, something that was as foreign as death. Maybe it was minutes, maybe it was hours. All he knew was that it was too soon. A door creaked open and there was shuffling of feet. He didn't need to open his eyes to know who it was.

"Master Andrew," the voice muttered into the boys ear.

"Yes, what is it?"

"I have a letter for you. The messenger looked urgent and seemed to want you to give you the letter right away," the servant answered. After several moments, with his master still making no signs of movement, the servant hesitantly continued, "she wanted to give you the letter personally, even after I told her that she would not get an audience. She didn't even leave when I threatened with the guards. The only reason she left was because I told her you were currently in the bath and would not be out for hours."

This seemed to peek Andrew's interest. Though he did not open his eyes, his head turned slightly in curiosity. "Tell me, Edmund, what did this girl look like?"

"She...looked very strange. Very dark and distant, yet very determined. She was very pale and looked pretty strong if only a little beat up. Her hair was red with orange tips. It must have been just cut because the tips were all straight and even. It was in a bob cut with her side bangs in a thin braid. I think her name was Aki...no, Muki...Wait! It was Akemi for sure. She seemed extremely uncomfortable with the knowledge of you bathing," the servant tried to describe perfectly. Andrew smiled.

"Thank you, Edmund. Please put the letter right next to my head, I will read it in my private chambers in the later hours of the day. You must be exhausted from fending off the messenger, why don't you join me then?"

The young boy blushed fiercely and even though Andrew still had not opened his eyes, he smirked at the knowledge of the servant doing exactly that.

"I-I couldn't, Master Andrew. These are purified waters specifically for you," Edmund stuttered.

"Oh please, Edmund. As if that really matters. I can always share," he retorted almost impatiently.

Before the boy could respond, the door behind them slammed open. Edmund immediately turned around while standing up straighter and was ready to fight right away. But after seeing who it was, he smiled and blushed at the same time.

"Now, now, Andrew. You aren't flirting with my boyfriend, now are you?"

"No, of course not, Simeon. You know that I only like the opposite gender," Andrew snorted.

"Yet you continue to tease Edmund while you bathe. I'm starting to think that you stay in this tub just for the occasion when he has an urgent message and has to enter your bath room*. Though I can't say I understand why you would risk doing so. He is worth dying for, of course, but maybe not for someone who claims he only likes woman."

"Oh Simeon, you make me laugh. First off, I _do_ only like woman. You are the one being a tease now. Second, if I did choose for Edmund to be my boyfriend then he would have already been mine," Andrew laughed and Simeon joined in. Edmund simply stood there, head bowed and a fierce blush taking over his usually grinning face.

"We are making him blush, Simeon. My apologies Edmund, my humour is a little peculiar, I suppose. You are dismissed for now, thank you for the letter. Simeon, you stay. You had something to say, did you not? Simeon...are you liste- oh dear lords," Andrew mumbled with his right hand now cupping his face.

Behind the back of Andrew, Simeon had cupped Edmund's chin and was kissing him softly. Edmund continued to play with his hands as a butterfly started dancing in his stomach.

"If you please, I am trying to rejuvenate so if you two could continue this kissing fest in your private chambers, or anywhere else, it would be appreciated, " Andrew groaned.

"Oh you're just jealous that you don't have a girlfriend like my boyfriend," Simeon teased with his arms around Edmund. "Besides, if we did that then we wouldn't be making you uncomfortable. On top of that, you wouldn't be seeing us for a while if we were in our chambers," he said suggestively while winking at his partner, causing Edmund to bury his face in Simeon's shoulder. Hearing a groan from his master, Simeon sighed and let his boyfriend go, their hands reluctantly leaving the other.

"Now, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Andrew sighed.

"Right," Simeon's expression got serious as he remembered his message. "The Makers have sent you a message. Because of the now unbalanced future, they aren't so sure that they can send us the runes from the Temple of Hyldagone. Apparently, because they did not foresee anyone stealing them, they did not have many guards on duty and the scrolls and runes were stolen. They apologies for their carelessness, but they are trying to sort it out and have already sent out some of their most skilled apprentices to track down the thief."

"Is that so? Very well then. It is their loss, not ours. They are the ones that want to discover the meaning behind the runes, not I. I accept their apology and will continue to await them. You are dismissed." Simeon bowed and turned sharply before leaving the glassy and tucked away room.

Andrew sighed with a mix of content and disappointment as he stood up in the water, letting the drops of water from his red hair drip down his average build. He walked towards the stairs and let the waves lap against his skin. As he made it out of the water, he put on the golden robe, only loosely tying the obi on his yukata**. As his arms drooped to his side, his hazel eyes opened.

* * *

"I refuse! It's summer vacation. I will not read anything except a magazine," Elaine yelled while crossing her arms after throwing the textbook aside.

"Come on, Lanie. The teachers told us that we should get ahead on our reading before starting at Red Fountain, or in your case, Alfea. It's either now or later when you have a lot more to do and a lot less time," Agatha didn't bother looking up from her _History of Dragon Riding_ textbook as she spoke calmly.

"It's summer vacation, a.k.a. the break from gaining knowledge," Lanie continued to pout.

"Danielle will be here soon so I'll put it away after she arrives," Agatha replied nonchalantly. Elaine suddenly grinned.

"You'll never change, huh, Agatha?" Elaine laughed. She got up and stretched. "I'm going to get a glass of water, do you-" Elaine stopped and turned sharply as a loud shriek was heard. "What was that?" The two girls ran out of the small bungalow and gasped at the scene in front of them.

"Someone, please. Call a doctor! Please! They don't have much time! They'll die soon." Their was a girl in front of them calling out for help. The two girls ran towards the girl and pushed through the gathering crowd.

"Oh my Atlanta," Lanie gasped as she covered her mouth in horror. There was a girl who was crying out at the sight, but most importantly there were two girl lying unconscious on the ground, covered in bruises and blood.

"They just...fell from the sky. They're still breathing, but I don't know how. They impact should have killed them. Please, is anyone a doctor?" Agatha immediately sprang into action.

"Lanie, go get some water and some towels. Be careful, okay? No one touch them. They could be sick and contagious. It's okay, calm down. What's your name?" Agatha asked while grabbing the girls wrists to comfort her.

"I-I'm Mercy. Are they going to be okay?" The pale girl pushed back a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear nervously.

"It's pretty bad, but I'll do my best to take care of them before the ambulance comes. I know this is a shock, but can you please step-, oh thanks Lanie. Take Mercy back to the house and I'll do my best to take care of them before the ambulance come." Agatha went to work right away and started washing the worst off of the two. Her mopy white hair was in the way and as Agatha moved it she found that there were even more scars covering her neck. Agatha did her best to clean the wounds despite the sun glaring on her back and the audience causing even more pressure.

After she finished cleaning up the scars as best as she could, Agatha leaned back and wondered where the ambulance was.

"Hey, what's all the fuss about?" a cheery voice said. Agatha turned around and smiled despite her situation.

"Daniella!" she called out. "I need your help. Can you help me carry these bodies back to the cottage?"

"What bod- oh. Uh, sure," Danielle muttered uncomfortably before going over and picking up the red-haired girl. "They aren't dead...are they?"

Agatha shook her head. "Not yet, anyway."

* * *

As soon as she made it out of the public hallways and into her private rooms, Aliums collapsed onto her couch. With only a few seconds of sitting she immediately got up and rushed to the bathroom. After she finished throwing up, she heard her best friend speak from behind her. "So it went that great, did it?" Aliums didn't have to turn around to know that Helen had gotten up and left to the living room she had just come from. Aliums sighed and rubbed her mouth. Feeling suddenly very dirty, Aliums flushed the toilet and climbed into the shower where she let the water drench her. It wasn't until the hot water had turned lukewarm that Aliums climbed out.

With a thick sigh, she opened the door and found Helen still sitting on the red couch in front of the wooden coffee table, instead of the two loveseats on either side of it. Aliums held her towel, just in case it slipped, and made her way to sit next to her black-haired friend. They sat their in silence, Helen rested her head on her knuckles and her eyes were shut. For a while Aliums thought she was asleep.

"Did it really go that bad?" Aliums bowed her head and pushed back her olive green hair.

"It was pretty bad. Maker Frederick discovered that I was interfering. He let me off with a warning but I don't know if I'll be able to avoid is eyes. I don't understand why he hasn't fired me yet. He is the head of the Sendero Circle and a Level Nine maker while I'm just a level three. His accusation wouldn't have been looked into. It would be easy," Aliums grumbled.

"Maybe he realizes that firing you would be completely wiping your memories and that you would be shot as soon as you went back to wherever you came from. Even though the Animagus War is over, your people are still hunted down. And you constantly changing your hair and eye colour doesn't help. No one can dye their hair multiple times a day," Helen suggested while turning her body so she was facing Aliums.

"No, he probably still has something he wants from me. And on top of that she does have the Mark of Death. I can't-don't want to believe that she would even think of killing herself. I know she's a murderer, but if that's what caused her to almost take her own life then that means-" Aliums stopped as soon as she heard a knock on the front door. "Were you expecting someone?" Helen shook her head and the two friends stood up but stayed put, readying their fighting positions. There was another knock before the door was swung open.

* * *

*Unlike a bathroom, which has a shower/bath, sink and toilet (cupboard space too), this room is just a large room that has a large pool/bath in the middle of the room. In this case, there are white pillars holding up the room (six on each side of the pool), with light blue, royal blue and white tiles.

**Also, to those who don't know what a yukata is I'll do my best to explain (basically, I'm going to copy and paste the definition from Google); a light cotton kimono. It's like a bathrobe. The obi is, I believe, what ties it together in the middle and I also believe you tie it at the back.

**PLEASE READ! VERY IMPORTANT! **(if you decide to skip anyways, PLEASE REVIEW! Thanks chikas)I'm really, really sorry it's been such a long wait. As an apology, I have decided to write a very long chapter for you. This is a little over four thousand words, at least double my usually, so I hope you like it. I worked very hard on it and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. I have decided that I will no longer be giving you a promised date when I will update. I find that gives me too much pressure and the chapters aren't that well written and I get writer's block because it's a really bad chapter and then I don't update by the time I promised. Without any pressure I will be able to give you better and longer chapters so I hope you can bear with me.

I have introduced multiple new characters in this chapter; Agatha, Daniella, Elaine, Mercy, Andrew, Simeon and Edmund (ACK! Fangirl arm flail! They are sooooo cute! I'm so excited to write about this pair. How many of you thought Simeon was a badass girl when he first spoke?) I think that's it so far, other than the Maker Frederick I think. I hope I'm doing a great job with them so far, they might be slightly tweak in the way **I** see them, which may be a little different than what you wrote. If that's the case, I hope it's not too big of a deal, but with their histories and likes/dislikes and hobbies, some of the personalities were a little wonky (yes I just used the word wonky) so I tweaked it. Don't sue/attack me. You did give them to me, though I will be asking questions for the big things because you are their creators.

More characters will be introduced in the coming chapters. To be honest, I wasn't planning to have these new characters until the school year started, some before or later, but most people were waiting for their characters arrival so I decided that a new story plot (that will definitely tie into the main one, I already know what it is) would be a good idea. So far there are a lot of cliffhangers and confusion going around and there will be even more in coming chapters as new characters come in. Some will not come in until later chapters anyways, and I'm sorry. I can only deal with so many without dying. I am warning you all, though. Character deaths will occur and I will give no warning to the creator of that character. It won't be right as you meet them, though. It won't be like "oh hi I'm (insert name here), ugh! I just got shot". Anyway, because this is already another chapter in the A/N, I'll wrap up now.

**Please review my lovely readers! I feed off of them!**


	9. Memories of the Fallen: part 2

I know it's been sooooo long and I'm so sorry. I'm the worst updater, I know. I hope you guys will keep reading though. I'm going to try to update better; any advice? Anyway, please enjoy this chapter. I hope it's good.

Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club, obviously.

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Memories of the Fallen part 2

The carriage ride was long and by the time they reached their destination it was already pitch black outside. Cecilia sighed as the carriage came to a stop and shifted herself so that she could get up. Even with the magic spell making the buggy larger on the inside, it was still extremely crowded with seven bodies. She gently nudged Aria and Xavier who were on either side of the ginger. Xavier woke up with a start and quickly shifted his body so his legs were no longer entangled with Juliette's, which caused her to wake up which caused Destinée to wake up and so on. It was like the domino effect, Cecilia mused. Aria shifted groggily and slapped the top of Cecilia's head.

"Just...shut up you damn clock. It's still pitch black out," Aria murmured into her arm which she used as a pillow. The others were still too groggy to make fun of Aria, and still not being trusted, Cecilia decided to keep her mouth shut.

The buggy door swung open and Janice peeked her head in. "Come on, we're here. Hurry up and come in so the hot chocolate doesn't get cold." The apprentice immediately ran back into a small shack with a already in-use chimney. Cecilia sat up as soon as the words hot and chocolate were used adjacently.

"Hurry up you old farts, I already got the dibs from the tallest and biggest glass," Cecilia squealed as she skipped into the house, which woke up Paige and Aria right away.

"What the hell..."Aria groaned while rubbing the crud out of her eyes.

"This is not acceptable!" Paige moaned as she collapsed in exhaustion against Aria. "I can't even see anything."

The remaining six slowly dragged themselves out of the carriage. As they made their way to the shack, they realized that there was nothing else around. They were completely surrounded by forest and there was no path. When they all entered the cottage, a wave of heat hit them straight in the face and it was very comforting.

"I know," Janice started, which startled them. "It took me a while to get used to the place at first, too. But it's very warm and cheery. It's also very safe." Her curled hair toppled over her side as she she stirred a brown liquid in a pot. She didn't continue to speak until the substance was poured into nine separate cups. "Don't just stand there or else you'll allow all the cold air in. It may be a small cottage, but it takes a lot of energy to keep heated. Here, grab a hot cocoa and add as many marshmallows as you want."

The group still stood in the open front entrance, unsure of what to do. Destinée hesitantly walked towards the island counter and casually dropped three, multicoloured marshmallows into her tall glass. The others slowly followed her lead and then made their way to the couches which were neatly set in front of a stone fire place. Janice watched them with a sweet smile. "Don't worry, I didn't poison it," she said as none of them took a sip of the drink. Still no one made any movements. "If none of you want it, you can just pour it down the sink. Just don't let Lia see you doing that, she'll have a fit if anyone wastes any form of sweets." The attempt of humour was lame and Janice quickly stopped laughing. Everything was once again silent.

Paige slowly got up and slowly walked towards the counter. "Do you happen to have a...cinnamon stick. It tastes great with hot chocolate," she mumbled. Janice smiled and turned to fetch it from the cupboards. As she waited for the ingredient, Paige looked around the small room. Now that she had a good look at it, the room looked bigger than it should have compared to what the outer looked like. The room wasn't large, but it wasn't petite either. It was just the right size to be quaint and cozy.

Everything seemed to made of the same pale brown wood; the floor, the frames of all the stools and couches, the coffee table, the entire kitchen. The only colour was a blue, green and white carpet that matched the couch and stool cushions. In the open kitchen there was a small bookshelf and Paige found herself looked closely at the picture frames.

In one of the frames was a girl with her brown hair tied back tightly in a bun while playing her violin. "Wow," Paige found herself gasping. "She's beautiful. Who is she?" Janice turned and looked at what the fairy was looking at. She suddenly grabbed the frame and stared at the picture beneath the glass.

"I should put this away before- Cecilia!" Janice tried her best to hide the frame.

"Who's who?" The ginger grinned and tackled the picture frame from Janice, despite behind much shorter.

"Oh." The smile on the short girl's face shrank until it was no longer there, her intense eyes turned black for a faint moment that it must have been a trick of the light. As quick as it left, her grin returned so that it was hardly noticeable. "That's Paisley, she was my girlfriend. I guess I'll go and put it in storage, then," Cecilia walked away with the frame . Janice groaned and collapsed against the island.

"Paisley's a sore subject here. Lia acts as if she doesn't care, but Dominique and I try to avoid it as much as possible. We've been trying to- you know what, never mind. It doesn't matter."

"What happened between them? A bad break up?" Paige asked, now curious. Janice chuckled.

"You could call it that. Paisley committed suicide only nine months after they started dating. It was Lia's first girlfriend and they came out to everyone in Sherbet, it's the world they come from, it only has one town of a small amount of people. They got bullied a lot because of their sexual orientation. Even though Lia remained positive, she didn't have the best time at or from home. She's naturally a happy person and should have been a good influence on Paisley, but after nine months of emotional and physical torture, Paisley couldn't take anymore. I guess you can call that a break up, if not a little drastic."

"Oh." That was all Paige could say. Before anyone could respond, Cecilia came bouncing back in as if she had just inhaled an entire chocolate bar. As soon as she saw the stillness of everyone she immediately pouted.

"You guys are absolutely no fun. I don't understand. You're warm and you have chocolate. I don't know what's wrong with you all," she shook her head in disapproval.

She had had enough. Juliette stood up abruptly, spilling her hot chocolate against the pale floor. "What do you want us to do? You just kidnapped us and burned down my house, so I apologize if hot chocolate doesn't make me forgive you."

The two apprentices sighed and looked at one another. With a shake of her head, Janice said, "We know. We're sorry. We don't want to make this hard on you. It's too late, yes, I understand that. This is hard on all of you, and with none of you in a proper state of mind you make us seem like the bad guys-"

"Whoa. Are you saying that you aren't?" Juliette scoffed. At her words, Cecilia immediately looked up.

"Please, Juliette. You aren't thinking right. This will all be explained when the rest of your friends come. Dominique is currently gathering them now, right Jannie?"

"Cecilia is right. If you remain patient for only a little while longer-"

"Please just tell us what's going on, now," Paige said sternly. She never looked up from the steam rising from her drink.

"I-I...we told you that we are your protectors. That's all that matters now," Janice hesitated. This was not according to the plan. Sure, after _she_ died everything was screwed up but the path should have been starting to straighten. It looked like the Sirens wanted to fight with them instead of train under them.

"Please, what's going on?"

* * *

Long purple hair danced around as Melinda skipped down the hallway. It was late and she was making her way to her bedroom with her baby porcupine dangling from her crossed arms. "Hey Chila," she said to her pet." Are you tired." In response, the animal yawned which caused the young girl to giggle softly.

Edmund waited by the door patiently, biting his lips in thought. As he heard heels echo down the hallway, he looked up to find Melinda skipping down the hallway. He grinned and waved to the young fairy.

"Edmund," she squealed while quickening her pace towards her friend.

"Hello, Melinda," the messenger replied politely. "Andrew would like to invite you to join him for break fast tomorrow."

"Okay," Melinda agreed right away. "Are you and Simeon going to be there. You two are so fun."

"Simeon will be," Edmund said. "But I'm afraid that I am simply a messenger, nothing more. I won't be there."

"That sucks," Melinda complained, which caused Edmund to start laughing.

"Well, goodnight. I will give you a proper tour tomorrow, if you would like," Edmund suggested. Melinda nodded her head enthusiastically. Edmund began to walk back to Simeon's room and when he arrived he found his boyfriend already unconscious. Edmund quickly changed into his pyjamas and found sleep almost immediately after his head hit the pillow.

_The sun was shining. It peeked through the trees and smiled onto the sheltered village. Edmund lay there, against the yet to be mowed grass and even though there was the sound of his bustling neighbours wandering around their forest home, he was content to just lie there in peace. With the peaceful music flowing through his headphones, Edmund soon fell asleep._

_The feeling a shoe falling against his stomach was enough to make Edmund lurch awake. The teenage boy sat up immediately and grabbed his throbbing stomach. "What the hell was that?" he mumbled to himself while rubbing his wound. _

"_Language." Despite the headphones still on his ears, the voice was always something that Edmund could hear and recognize. _

"_O-oh, Simeon." Edmund stood up clumsily as he pulled his headset off. "What's up?" He coughed awkwardly and straightened his clothes._

"_I was just wondering if you wanted to head out for some lunch later. We haven't hung out for a while and I feel like something with less charcoal and with more actual food," he joked. This caused Edmund to grin._

"_Of course!" He agreed too quickly. Before anyone of the two could speak, Edmund's cellphone went off and the more he read the text message the more disappointed he was. "I have to go, mom wants me to weed the garden. I'll see you later." With that, the energetic boy ran off. _

_He didn't get far without realize that he no idea what time they would go to whatever restaurant. The brunette couldn't help but mentally slap himself. He turned back around to go after Simeon and ask for details, but he stopped when he found him with Chelsea. _

"_You're going out to eat lunch with Edmund? Why would you do that," she scoffed while rolling her brown eyes. _

"_He's a good friend," Simeon explained. "I haven't hung out with him for a while, too."_

"_He likes guys, you know. Everyone can tell that he has a thing for you. Be careful, Simeon, You don't know what he might try to pull on you." Edmund's heart immediately sank after hearing her words. He didn't know it was that obvious. When Edmund turned back to watch them he saw Simeon shrugging his shoulders._

"_Whatever, he's still a mate," Simeon said. Butterflies fluttered in Edmund's stomach, just like it always did when Simeon was around. Taking a deep breath, Edmund stepped out of his hiding place to ask for the details. He did his best to ignore Chelsea's glare._

_A couple hours later Edmund joined up with Simeon but his smile sank when he saw Chelsea hanging off of Simeon's arm._

Edmund grabbed his throbbing forehead while he started to sit up. "Oh gods," he muttered. He swallowed the bile that threatened to rise and started to leave the warmth of his bed. Warm arms grabbed a hold of his waist, causing the young boy to jump a little. He slowly starting to untangle himself from Simeon's grip and exited the room after he fully clothed himself. He shut the door quietly behind him.

After making his way down a known path that he had walked through more recently than even when he was a sick-prone child, he found the court physician. The doctor didn't seem surprised to see him and instead just patted a stool while he searched his cupboards. He handed Edmund a clear bottle which held a purple liquid. "Was it the same dream as any of the other ones?" the physician asked. Edmund shook his head.

"It was similar, but not the same. They all have the same people and...and I can't really explain it." Edmund bowed his head in embarrassment.

"Can't you tell me anything about these dreams? I would be able to prescribe you something better," the old man said.

"No, it's private," Edmund admitted. "If you say this will help, then I believe you, Glais*. You've taken care of me since I was a child."

"Yes, but maybe it's a spell. Have you checked your bedrooms for any artifacts?" Glais asked.

"Simeon is a wizard, he has lots of artifacts. The ceiling is hanging with wind chimes and jewels. But there isn't anything wrong or corrupted. I've checked." Without another word, the brown haired boy swallowed the contents of the bottle whole. His face turned sour. "Thank you doctor, I'll go back now. I'm sure you want to get some sleep."

"It's fine, my boy. At my age you don't need much sleep." Edmund smiled at the old man and left without another word.

As soon as Glais closed the door behind Edmund, Melinda stood in front of the teenage boy. "Edmund!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just-" before he continued Melinda interrupted him.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. What are you doing awake?" Edmund asked, changing the subject.

"Chila was get hungry and wanted some milk too, but I can't find the kitchen," she pouted with her porcupine in a choke hold.

Edmund laughed, "I guess I should give you a tour now, then. Come on."

The old doctor shook his head while staring at the bottle which the contents had just been downed by Edmund. "What are you making me give him, Andrew," he mumbled.

* * *

_The purple canopy bed squeaked under Akemi as Darna threw her. Just like a cat, Darna slowly made her way next to the other girl. Akemi tried to push her away as Darna got closer, but the attempts only made Darna smirk in amusement. "What do you want from me?" Akemi snapped. Darna put her hair against Akemi's ragged hair and began to run her long fingers through it. _

"_We both know what I want," she purred in response. Akemi couldn't help but shiver in disgust._

"_I will never join you or anyone else in your family. I hate you all. You...you bastards." Once again, Akemi tried to shove Darna away but she simply pinned Akemi's hands against the purple comforter._

"_You hate us?" Darna pouted. "That's not fair. What did we do to deserve that?"_

"_What did you- how do you not know?" she scoffed. " You hunted Skylar down, you enslaved me and my friends and you killed Akumu. That's just at the top of my head, too. Don't tell me you don't know."_

"_But Akemi, you know that we deserve getting it back. It's not fair that is was taken away from us just because of who are family is. It's not fair and we are going to get it back!"_

"_And what makes you think that you deserve it after all this murder and hunting people down like they're prey?" Akemi gathered all the saliva should could in her dry mouth and spat at Darna's face. Because of their close distance, Darna was completely sprayed. _

"_The only reason we're murderers is because they took it away and we want it back." Darna looked at Akemi and after smearing her own lips together, she placed hers against Akemi's. Akemi started to struggle right away but the evil witch continued to force herself onto her. Eventually, Akemi stopped. _

"_There," Darna said as she pulled away. "That's better." The two witches looked at each other and smiled. _

Akemi turned over in her bed and sighed. "What a funny dream," she mumbled into her pillow. A yawn made it's way through her lips and Akemi pulled the purple comforter further up to cover her shoulders.

* * *

"No, he probably still has something he wants from me. And on top of that she does have the Mark of Death. I can't-don't want to believe that she would even think of killing herself. I know she's a murderer, but if that's what caused her to almost take her own life then that means-" Aliums stopped as soon as she heard a knock on the front door. "Were you expecting someone?" Helen shook her head and the two friends stood up but stayed put, readying their fighting positions. There was another knock before the door was swung open.

A thick sigh of relief was exhaled from the two adults as they collapsed against the couch. "Are you two okay?" Dominique asked skeptically. Taking a gulp of air, Helen waved it away as if it was a breeze.

"Yeah, we just thought you were someone else," the black-haired woman replied with a faint smile at her assumptions.

"Whatever." Dominique entered and despite being motioned to sit, she shook her head and remained standing. "I can't stay long. I just came to pick up some things before I leave for the Sirens' boyfriends. I heard that some of the witches are missing."

Suddenly less thankful and more weary, Aliums sank further into the couch. "Yes, it's true. We have some of the teams in our district researching it, but I can't really say where they are or why they aren't at home. If you want my advice, I would suggest just sticking with who you can get. The Schedule is so screwed up already, we can't afford to wait any longer."

"That's not why I came," Dominique responded nonchalantly. She folded her arms before she continued. "I have so more news about Cecilia." This immediately perked the interest of the two older women.

"What is it?" Helen urged her to continue.

"When we went to go get the fairies we found them shopping for a wedding dress, Lia decided that it would be a good idea to test them to see if they remembered what Astrel told them the day she died. Paige and Lia came back later, and she says that they were talking about rain. They were gone a long time." Dominique said. The two Makers remained quiet and quickly shared eye contact before turning to face the younger fairy.

"Is that it?" Aliums asked skeptically.

"So far, yes," Dominique answered. With a thick sigh, Aliums got up and shook her wet olive hair.

"Thank you, we'll look further into it. You should go, though. The more time you waste the more the schedule will become a new path," Aliums said as she opened the door, hoping that Dominique would talk it as a hint to leave.

"Aren't you going to tell me what's going on? I want to help her just as much as you two and as her partner, I think I should know more about what's going on!" Dominique argued.

"I'm sorry," Helen apologized before Aliums could get a word out. "For now, you will just have to trust that we will solve the mystery. Please stop asking. We have told you many times that we cannot answer you."

"I want to help too. Janice and I want to know what's going on," Dominique said.

"That's exactly the problem. You should go now, hurry up. We don't want to leave Janice and Cecilia all alone with all those fairies for too long," Aliums dismissed the subject and closed the door after making her exit.

* * *

Andrew turned and walked away from the door. "So, he's started to catch on," he muttered to himself. The head wizard pulled out a small piece of paper and unfolded it carefully. "It's only a matter of time, then."

* * *

*Glais is an Arthurian name which means "a knell" and Google translate says knell means: The sound of a bell, esp. when rung solemnly for a death or funeral. It is also the name of Percival, a knight in the Arthurian legends, grandfather. I'm not sure if that's all true, but the name site told me it is so so I'm going with it.

So I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, even though there was nothing too interesting about it. The chapters are being broken up a lot but when the story plots mold together into one it wouldn't be so broken up like that. Only a couple more chapters of this format.

Also, thanks Shadowrider89 for the private message. Basically, you should thank him for the update because knowing me, it would probably be nine o'clock on a Sunday when I start writing it XD So thanks! If it ever becomes longer than a two week break, feel free to review or PM me to remind me. Sometimes I forget that people actually like reading my stories XD Hope to see you soon!


	10. Tears

It's, once again, been a while and I'm sorry and I know I'm horrible but I would still love it if you continued to read this. My computer is broken so I will not be able to play any video games this week so I'll probably be writing until it gets fixed, oh, and doing homework as well, so I hope to update soon but no promises. School is less than two months done which means a) I'm going to get even busier and b) summer is coming so I can be a better updater, hopefully. So keep that in mind to! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club or the majority of these characters.

* * *

Adjusting her grip so that the tea cup didn't slip from her hands, Paige sighed deeply. Her breath swirled in the frosty air before disappearing. The fairy of art brought the warm drink against her lips and as she started to guzzle the tea she heard some footsteps crunching against the frosted grass. Not even bothering to turn around, Paige said, "I prefer to be alone for now, if you don't mind." When the steps continued to get closer, Paige quickly turned on the fence and yelled, "please, just leave alone!" Finally the shadow stopped moving and Paige found herself panting heavily.

The two stayed where they were for a long time. Simply staring at one another. As the time seeped by, Paige felt an embrace of vulnerability and unconsciously started to cower. As if her own shadow would slit her throat. Shivers started to shake her body and it took all her strength not to collapse into a fit. Noticing the reaction, the shadow advanced and Paige found herself wrapped into a warm hug.

"It's alright, Paige. Just take a deep breath." Large, salty tears escaped her eyes and in clumps made their way down her cheeks. As Paige started to calm down, she tried to follow the advice but she started chocking on the moisture as it made it's way into her open mouth. "Shhh, deep breaths Paige."

It felt like a very long time when they finally let each other go. Paige bowed her head while she blew her nose in an already used tissue. "Sorry, Janice," her voice cracked and she feared that she would start crying again. "I-I don't know what came over me."

"Don't apologize for crying," Janice said. She gathered Paige's hair together and tied it back so that it would no longer fly in the puffy face before sitting on the fence next to her. "It's healthy, you know, to cry at least once a month. Being sad isn't a bad thing as long as you try to be happy again." The two fairies sat in silence for a few moments until Paige's head rested against Janice's shoulder. The contact surprised Janice but she smiled warmly. "You've been through a lot today, you should be inside resting." Paige unconsciously shook her head.

"No," she swallowed, "I don't think...I can't sleep with them. Not after I've been stained, I don't want to see their eyes looking at me with pity."

"Oh, Paige. They aren't pitying you. They're worried for you. Look at you. You've been secluding yourself. Torturing yourself. You are very lucky to have them as friends. They want to take care of you, to be with you, but you aren't letting them." Janice wrapped an arm around the girl and squeezed. "You are making this harder for yourself than you should be."

"I deserve a solitary life. I... I murdered my best friend. I am a murderer. I killed someone. I feel as if my-"

"-heart has been grabbed hold of and then squeezed by the strongest man alive. It's punctured and ripped to shreds, I understand."

"H-how do you know that?" Paige asked while escaping Janice's hug. The apprentice looked down at her hands and then at Paige.

"You just assumed that I have never killed anyone? That's sweet, but untrue. You have killed two, I have killed many more than that. Dominique even more than me. It's rare for a maker of the ninth division to not to be a murderer. Anything to protect our assignments. Cecilia is a rare case and has never taken a life. Dominique and I are doing whatever we can to protect her from that. She's the innocence in this group, probably the only thing that keeps us together. Dom and Lia fight a lot, but you can tell that they do love each other. Like a sisterly banter. Taking another life is wrong...it's what we grow up learning from our fairy tales. But nothing turns out like a fairy tale, does it?

"Some people say to never regret. But why not? It shows we have humanity. Guilt and regret are terrifying feelings but they are true and we should not deny them. Paige, you are feeling pain and that is how it should be. How would you be considered a humane person if not? But you cannot let fear of who you are or your sadness control your life. You have people who care and love you. When you start to forget that then you are in trouble. You killed her, Paige. Skylar is dead. There is nothing that can be done about it. Do not forget her or your actions, do not push that day from your memory because it will haunt you. Skylar was meant to die that day, Travis too. It was inevitable. You were meant to kill her and that gives us just a little bit of hope."

When Janice had finished she was facing Paige and had a hold on her hands. "Do not be sad for too long, Siren Paige. Life is full of happiness as well as sadness. Love as well as hate." Tears once again streamed down Paige's cheeks.

"Thank you," Paige muttered. "Thank you so much!" She grabbed Janice's shirt and started to weep. The wrenching sound of the sobs tore open Janice's heart. "_Why,"_Janice thought, "_didn't you cry when she died?"_ She closed her eyes and let tears descend.

After much longer than the first time, they let each other go and gave each other watery smiles. Paige wiped her noise on her pastel sweater sleeve and shook her head.

"There's something about this place," she said with a quiet laugh, "that just makes everything seem very far away."

"I'm not surprised you feel that," Janice smiled. "This is a special world that Cecilia made. It takes a lot of her energy so you'll notice she'll be asleep and awake at very odd times. It's a time gap in Casidor, actually. Xavier's home planet. Time here is not measurable and sometimes a day here can be multiple for Casidor. This is the safest place to train as well. We will be here for a little while and then we plan to go look for the Kingdom of Ashvar. Their head wizard is told to be very wise and powerful. The College of Summerkeep would be a great alliance for the Sirens to have."

"What are we training for?" Paige asked.

"We will explain when the rest of your friends come. Dominique will be here with them tomorrow, actually today considering the time. I suggest you go get some sleep now. It will do you a world of good. We will start training later today and you will need a lot of energy."

"Oh...right." The fairy of art got up and started to walk away.

"Actually, Paige," Janice started. She bit her lip while Paige turned around. "What did Cecilia tell you when you two first met? When you were in the illusion?"

"She told me that it never rains and that I should stop forgetting about Skylar's...final breath or I'll become like her, that's it," Paige said.

"Thank you." Janice watched Paige leave before grabbing her throbbing forehead.

* * *

It was about three in the afternoon that Dominique swung open the door and a group of four men came in. The bored fairies suddenly jumped up and felt a rush of relief. Paige looked up from her cutting vegetables and after making eye contact with Riff looked away. "Perfect timing, Dom Dom," Lia squealed as she bustled through the door with firewood. "I thought everyone was going to die of boredom."

"How many times am I going to have to tell you-" but before she could continue, Dominique was interrupted by Janice.

"Oh good, I thought you had run into some trouble or something," Janice said. Dominique shook her head.

"No, I met Aliums and Helene so we talked for a little while and it turned out getting this wild beasts was harder than I thought." As she said those words, four pets crawled in.

"Ditto, Chinook!" Aria cheered as she ran up to her pets. "My babies." The squirrel immediately made it's way up to form a nest in the crook her neck while the lioness purred softly as Aria stroked her chin, offering no kisses.

"Thanks for the warm welcome," Riff teased which gave him a slug to his shoulder.

"Can't say I missed you," Destinee said with a laugh. As the two groups reunited, Dominique tapped her foot against the floor impatiently.

"As much as I love these warm and fuzzy moments, some of us have work to do and don't actually want to watch you all playing happy family," Domimique eventually said. She squeezed her way through and disappeared into the bedrooms with her hands full of luggage.

"Well, that was cold," Drake said.

"That may be so; however, Dominique is right. We don't have a lot of time to train you all before we leave for Ashvar," Janice said as she closed the door behind the boys. "Please, come and take a seat."

"Ashvar!" Chase exclaimed. "The mythical Kingdom of the great wizards?"

"It's alright, Chase, they already know," Xavier put up his hand to stop his guard and then looked at the apprentices. "The news of Ashvar are known to only the nobles of Casidor. They are simply rumours and legends to commoners."

"Well, as you may be able to tell," Janice said with a twinkle in her eye, "we aren't your common folk." The room was quiet. "We'll discuss those plans later but for now we want you all to know that your lives are all in grave danger."

"Way to put it nicely," Dominique snorted.

"We don't have a lot of time so I thought it was appropriate to simply get straight to the point. You four girls are two thirds of the Sirens, and you are those destined to defeat the rise of the Ancestors once and for all. Our resources have notified us that they have already begun their next phase. It is earlier than we expected because of the messing with fate Drake brought to us by killing Astrel, but we are going to commence are plans as quickly as we can as well. In the next few weeks, we will be protecting you. The specialists and us will be the Sirens body guards and as your protectors, we will guide your path," Janice explained.

"And why should we trust you?" Destinee questioned as she folded her arms.

"You will just have to force yourself to trust us until you eventually do," Janice said.

"That isn't how it works," Destinee retorted.

"Astrel trusted us, that should be a good enough answer-"

"Astrel is dead!" Juliette yelled. Everyone stared at her in shock and the room was filled with awkward silence. "Astrel trusted strangers and now she's dead. Look where that got her. I don't know about you, but I've been kidnapped, brought to war, hunted and attacked by strangers so I'm sorry that I can't naturally trust you because someone who died trusted a stranger. No matter who she is."

"Juliette-" Aria started but she was interrupted by Paige.

"She's right. But for now I think we need to trust what's going on. Look at this. We have... against three. We could take them so easily because no matter how powerful they are there is only so much they can protect themselves with at close range. If they wanted us dead, why would they bring more people that are specialized in hand to hand combat instead of magic? I don't think they want us dead or in any form hurt."

"We don't know anything about them, how do we know that they can't do close combat as well? We don't really have any reason to trust them," Juliette contradicted.

"How can we prove to you that we are worth your trust if you won't give us a chance?" Janice reasoned. "You all did not know each other before last year and you have grown to trust one another, we also deserve that chance, even more so now considering the circumstances that if you go to Alfea the way you are now, you will die within days. The Ancestors are no longer your average witches and specialist. They have allies, powerful ones, and a strategy. They are looking for more power sources and look at us. We're squabbling over trust issues while the enemy is advancing. I don't know what to do to gain your trust if you will not give us a chance."

"I know what we can do. What if I told you a friend of yours, a close friend, trusts us. Would you at least give us the chance?" Cecilia asked.

"Please, Lia, they aren't ready to know," Janice argued.

"Janice, she has a point. You said it yourself," Dominique said, "we're running out of time. They would find out eventually so why not now?" Janice bit her lip but nodded her head.

"Now please don't freak out at what I'm about to tell you," Cecilia said with a nervous grin. "But Astrel is still in the living world?" The entire room stopped. Cecilia closed her eyes as if she was expecting someone to hit her, and judging by what Drake did next, she was right. The boy blinked and in a few slow seconds his anger boiled up and he in three quick strides he had grasped onto Cecilia's collar and the short girl was no longer touching the floor.

"Drake!" Paige yelled. She tried to help her down but Ashton grabbed a hold of he and shook his head.

"Let him get it out of his system," it sounded like a suggestion but Paige knew it wasn't.

"What do you mean she's still alive? She died, I saw her... I killed her! I felt her breath slip away, there was no way she could survive," Drake hissed and spat into her face.

"N-no, she's not alive. But she's still in the the living world," Cecilia coughed, "you will see her soon. but not at this moment. She is currently out of reach but when she is given permission to come and see you, she will be here very quickly."

"That doesn't even make sense," Drake growled. His grip tightened and hacking sounds as Cecilia tried to breath were the only things you could hear. Janice and Dominique had to force themselves not to get mixed up, but Dominique had a hand on a steak knife if if went to far.

"Sh-she'll explain w-hen you see her again. I-if you are...not careful, she *cough* will not be a-ble to see you again. She- is watching your moves, Drake," Cecilia gasped. The specialist dropped the apprentice.

"You better be right," he growled. He slowly sank to the ground and cupped his eyes. "You better be right." He cried. Wracking cries escaped through his lips and Dreams pawed at her ear in discomfort. The lioness slowly stalked toward the boy and started to nudge at him. Drake hugged the lioness tightly and didn't let go.

"W-why don't you come with me as I show you your rooms," Cecilia muttered as she got up from the wooden floor. The others quickly agreed to avoid the embarrassment of seeing Drake collapsed on the ground.

As they left, Drake looked up from the golden pelt and said, "she better come back, just like she said." Dominique turned slightly and raised an eyebrow.

"Stop threatening her, if you do that again I won't hesitate to slit your throat where you stand." She then walked away.

* * *

Cecilia shook Drake awake. "Come on," she whispered as he stirred in his bed. "Hurry up. Someone wants to see you." As the door closed behind her, Drake seriously considered ignoring her, but he then remembered everything that was discussed earlier that day. Reluctantly, Drake got up and even though he slept in his boxers, he was surprisingly warm. The fire in the small room crackled but he didn't remember lighting it. He quickly got dressed, but when he joined Lia outside he regretted his choice of clothes. In front of him was Lia staring at him disapprovingly. "You're going like that to meet her?" She shook her head at the plain jeans and t-shirt.

"I can always go and change," Drake said while pointing back at the cottage with his thumb.

"No, there isn't enough time. She isn't the most patient with men. Come on now," Cecilia motioned to follow her with a sly smile. As she giggled he couldn't help but worry a little.

But unsure of what else to do, Drake started to follow the ginger deeper into the forest. "Where are we going?" he asked but there was no response. Just a swift grin which was quickly hidden from her turning back around. It was not until they came to a small clearing were anymore words spoken. It was certainly not as big as the clearing where the cottage sat, but it was still big enough so that Drake and Cecilia could stand next to each other comfortably. "What's out here?" Drake turned to look at Lia but she once again did not respond. Before he could ask her again, a bright, golden light started to grow in the small area in front of them. They were forced to look away from the blinding glow.

"So you have finally arrived," a female voice said. The light still had not faded completely so as Drake looked up, squinting at the woman in front of him he came to only one conclusion.

"A-Astrel? Is that you?" His voice cracked and he swallowed back a sob.

"No, not this time," she said. The woman waited until she was completely visible before continuing. "I am the Lady Artemis, daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin to Apollo, and goddess of The Hunt. I am here to speak to you, Drake, son of Sky and Bloom, brother of Skylar, and lover of my kin."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I would love it if you **reviewed** (it would make my week sooo much better)!

Hope to talk to you all soon!


	11. Fun In The Sun

Hey everyone! Now before we get started, I am going to apologize. I know, it seems like I do that for EVERY chapter that I put up because they're always so late. And I hate that for myself and for my lovely readers. But I promise you that you WILL get another chapter this week. It's already half written so I hope it'll be ready to put up in a few days. But thank you for your continued support and I hope that you like this next and future chapters! You all are amazing!

Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.

* * *

Argo woke up with her head pounding. However, that was not what disrupted her slumber. Cold water made it's way through her lips and started flooding her mouth and the next thing she knew, she was coughing up water. "Oh, I'm sorry," a soothing voice said. After she had gathered her ability to breath she turned to the speaker and almost immediately jumped backwards.

"W-who..." her voice was hoarse and she was unable to continue. She started to cough once again and almost instantly a hand made it's way to her back and started to rub it.

"Sorry," the other girl said meekly. "I didn't mean to scare you." She continued to rub Argo's back, despite the witch no longer choking. As if she guessed the question in Argo's mind, she introduced herself. "I'm Elaine, by the way. But most people just call me Lanie. Who are you?"

The witch did not reply. She simply stared at the red-head. It was; however, a brief staring contest. Lanie saw how the others eyes moved from her own to the jug of water "Here, you must be thirsty. You have been asleep for a while." Even though Argo didn't want to take anything from the stranger, and much less owe her, she was just too thirsty to refuse. She greedily grabbed the glass of offered water. The liquid spilled over the side and quickly came in contact with Lanie's skin. The girl's eyebrows crossed and she got up immediately. She almost tripped on her feet as she ran from the room.

Argo didn't know what was going on so she decided to help herself to more water. As she emptied the water jug at a rather quick pace she looked around the room and noticed that it wasn't a very big room, but it seemed to be filled with many different trinkets. But then it didn't take long for her mind drifted. What had happened? Where was she? Was Sora okay? And what about Akemi? The questions invaded her head and Argo found herself chocking back a sob. She knew that she couldn't afford to feel bad for herself. She knew that she had to get out and find Sora so they could go find their Alfea friends. She knew what she needed to do, but just not how to do so. Tear drops started to form in her eyes now but she pushed them back. Tears were for the weak and even though she could hardly stand, she was not a weakling. And when had she started crying? A headache was slowly forming.

"Sorry about that," Lanie said as she came in. Argo watched Lanie come and sit down next to her again. Silence continued to fill the room and neither one of the girls thought it comfortable. Lanie rubbed her hands together awkwardly while Argo continued to examine the room, looking for a way to get out besides the obvious front door. "I don't mean to be bringing back bad memories, but do you remember what happened before you arrived on Andros?" Lanie broke the silence.

Memories of a downpour and then Sora warning her about something...what was it? Everything went black after that. "Sora," she said instead. "Did she show up too?"

"You mean the white haired girl? Yeah, Daniella is looking after her," she added when Argo nodded her head. "So she's Sora...what about you? Don't you have a name?"

"Airig- Argo. I need to see her." The red-haired witch got up but started to loose her balance right away.

"Here. I'll help you get to her room." Argo leaned against Elaine and the two slowly made their way to the room next door.

Sora eyes were fluttering at a rapid speed and letting go of Lanie, Argo clumsily made her way to her best friend's side. She grabbed Sora's icy hands and watched her sleep. Hours passed though it seemed as if it was only seconds. Argo continued to grasp Sora's hands as she thought. She should have tried to get the out the two of them out of that house as soon as she woke up but it wouldn't have been possible. Not with Elaine and Danielle hovering around. Argo let one of Sora's hands go to grab her head with a thick, lengthy sigh. What mess had they gotten into to?

The three friends decided to leave Argo and Sora alone for a bit. Calling them worried was an understatement, but in the end, it wasn't their scene to watch nor their story to hear. After being cramped in the small cottage for a few days, they decided that they would go explore Daniella's home world. Daniella insisted that they go visit the Art Festival in Parque Du L'eau* for a couple hours and not knowing anything else to do, they agreed.

Parque Du L'eau, as the name suggested, was right on the water with some merman selling some coral jewelry at the docks. It was an annual tradition, this art festival, and Elaine and Agatha found themselves impressed with the display of creativity. "Oh my Atlanta," Elaine cooed. "Look how beautiful this set is." The two others couldn't help but agree.

It wasn't long until the sun started to burn their exposed skin, draining their energy, so they decided to go sit in the shade with a cool iced tea. They sat in comfortable silence and watched people walk by. It was nice watching happy people walk by, and everyone did seem to be rather content with their day. Everyone seemed to be laughing.

* * *

You couldn't hear any laughter. The field was full of smiling citizens, laughing and talking with their friends, but after she walked in, everything stopped. Not even the babies were crying anymore. The girl with the long crimson hair continued her way through the field. The sun was hidden by the monstrous trees but enough light peaked through for the village to appear in daylight. She enjoyed this. Even when it was midday she could still taste fear and it was delicious. Deciding to have some fun before it was all very serious business, she walked up to a woman who was clutching two young children close to herself.

"Excuse me," she said with smiling smirk gracing her lips, "do you know where I can find the College of Summerskeep?" The mother backed away clumsily with her children and pointed in the right direction. "Thank you," she replied. As she walked away she smiled greedily.

Oh yes, she licked her lips, simply scrumptious.

As soon as she passed through a long archway of trees two guards came into view, their spears crossing each others.

"State your business," the boldest of the two said without any emotion. She decided to ignore the question and instead she quickly scanned the two men in a matter of moments. After compiling her data, she smirked. "State your business," he repeated. But she wasn't quite finished. Reaching inside her purse, she pulled out bright red lipstick which she applied slowly, just to spite the guards.

"Answer the question," the youngest of the two demanded threateningly. She pursed her lips as if kissing the air and winked.

"Like everyone passing through these trees," she said with a hint of laughter, "I want to meet with the head wizard." The young guard sneered after looking up and down her frame.

"This is a wizardry school, lady. You don't have any business here."

"Oh," she said playfully. "But I think I do." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a crispy letter that looked as if it was starting to rot. "Sir Andrew did invite me as a guest to... discuss an ongoing proposal, just like he is with the Princess of Tir Nan Og."

One of the guards started to read it while the other glared at her with his spear gripped firmly in his hand. "Everything seems to be in order, Miss Wisteria. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"Oh, don't worry about it boys. I completely understand." As she emphasized her words, she leaned forward until she was face to face with the older guard. "Mistakes happen." She then ripped the letter from their hands and pushed them away from her path. As she walked down a stone pass, with the college coming into view, she looked back and finished, "oh, and call me Belladonna boys. I'm sure we'll see each other again." After winking a final time, she walked up the steps to the castle and smirked. She was going to have fun here.

* * *

Ume picked up the long necklace and let it hang from her finger tips in distaste. "Why are we here again?" she asked while dropping the jewelry and then brushing her infected hand against her jean skirt.

"We're supposed to find Argo and Sora," Gale explained. As she turned around she rolled her eyes at her cousin. "Come on Ume, pay attention. We need to find those girls that he told us about. They can lead us to them, and I don't know about you, but I don't want to go back to Darna and tell her we failed."

"Why are we looking for them anyway? We sent them away for a reason," Ume trotted next to Gale and glared back at the vendors.

"Yeah, hoping they would starve to death. We should have just killed them there, like I suggested. But no, we had to listen to what Darna wanted. We're back tracking, not advancing on our plan!"

"I think this is a good excuse to get out of the house. If I had to watch them kiss one more time I would freeze them, then crack the glass." Demonstrating her threat, she did so to a dog statue.

"Hey, you have to pay for that!" the seller said after they started walking away again. Ume turned around with a hand on her hip.

"Excuse me? I didn't buy it so I don't have to pay for anything," she retorted in disbelief.

"You broke it, you have to pay for it," the seller continued.

"Look," Ume was starting to get tired of this, "I don't know who you think you are, but unless you want the same thing to happen to you, I suggest backing down." As soon as she said those words, a handful of people surrounding the stall turned to Ume with their swords pointed at her.

"I can handle this, just put the weapons away," the stranger groaned. Next to her, a small girl started to pull on her sleeve.

"Come on Quinn, just stop. It doesn't matter," she said. But Quinn wasn't dealing with this. She exited the stall and went face to face with Ume. But before either one could say anything, Gale interrupted.

"If you're done playing around now, can we get back to business. I think we spotted them." Ume sighed but as she walked away from the tanned girl, she waved at her teasingly and laughed.

The two cousins, ignoring their surroundings, walked towards the girls they were searching for. "Hi," Gale said with a fake smile. "Are you Agatha, Elaine and Daniella?" The three girls she just listed looked up from their drinks.

Agatha was the first one to speak, "who's asking?"

"Our friend Airigon called us a little ago and told us to find you guys. She told us what happened and we want to see her right away," Ume said. "She and Sora have been missing for a while now; it was nothing short of a miracle that she called us."

"Airigon...right. Well we can take you to see them, if you like," Agatha winced up at the sun to see the strangers faces.

"Oh, we don't want you to go through the trouble. You can just tell us the address so you can stay and enjoy the...beautiful fair," Ume put in.

"That's fine, thanks. We're getting hot anyway. We want to go back and get our swimsuits anyway," Daniella finally said.

The two cousin witches smiled at the others and soon found themselves following them. It wasn't long until they got back to the cottage like bungalow, perhaps a quarter to half an hour. After Daniella unlocked the door, they all crowded into the front hallway in silence. Ume and Gale looked at each other impatiently and wished that they had just flied to the house.

"So, where are they?" Gale asked enthusiastically. If you were going to play the part then might as well play it well.

"They're just in-"

"I'll go check if their ready. I'm not even sure if their awake," Agatha interrupted. She went into the bedroom, careful to hid the inside of the room before closing the door. "Hey Argo," she said. The witch looked up at Agatha. "There are some people here to see you. Do you want to see them?"

"Who are they?"

"I don't know. They didn't give us a name." Argo then shrugged and so Agatha opened the door.

After that, everything went by quickly. Argo looked at the guests and backed away immediately, trying to drag Sora's body with her. "What the hell are you doing here? You let us go, remember? Leave us alone!" Argo screeched. Ume and Gale looked at each other with a smirk grazing their lips.

"Sorry," Gale started.

"We can't do that," Ume continued.

"You see-"

"We changed our minds," the ended together.

"But don't worry, Darna will make sure Akemi's happy," Gale said.

"I would worry more about yourself if I were you." Ume started to push the other girls away and as they fell she jumped towards Argo.

"You monsters! Why are you torturing Akemi? Why did you send us away-"

"Trust us when we tell you, Akemi is doing most of the torturing," Ume gagged before grabbing onto Argo and pulling her away from Sora. Finally, the other girls got a hold of themselves and Daniella and Elaine immediately transformed, while Agatha grabbed her dart gun which she had rested on the wardrobe a couple days ago and shot the attackers. The dart sank into the crooks of their necks and before they could make any sense of what was going on, they crumbled to the floor one after the other.

"What. Was. That," Elaine said slowly. Her hands were up like she was about to start flailing.

"I can't believe they found us. Shit," Argo said to herself. She looked down at Sora and sighed uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I don't want to ask for anything else, but do you think you could help us find our friends?"

* * *

*Parque Du L'eau (french): Water Park

So I hope that was a satisfactory chapter. I can't believe it's taken me so long to finally tell you what's going on with Sora, Argo, Elaine, Daniella and Agatha. They will be coming back in future chapters, obviously, but the next chapter will be mainly focused on the Sirens and the Specialists. Belladonna might show up with Andrew and the rest of them in Ashvar.

I've been a very wonky updater, and I am really sorry about that, but I hope that I will be able to get better like you all deserve. I have two other stories going on at the moment, Red Dress and The Begining of The End. I just started TBOTE and I honestly don't plan on updating that one very often. Idon't think I can handle it at the moment, but because someone asked me to write this story and I already put it out I feel like I must and therefore, sometime will be spent on that. But I want to set something straight right now because I know some of you might be worried about this; I will NEVER give up on The Maker's Archives series. It's not my best writing or plot or anything like that but I have a lot of fun writing it and I really love my readers. You guys are AMAZING! That is at the top of my list of writing this summer.

I do have a life (I'm not _always_ on the computer...) and there are other stories I want to write, one-shots for fanfiction and actual original stories. So keep that in mind.

Anyway, I would love it if you REVIEWED and checked out the poll on my profile so I can deliver more of what you like in the story. Some of the relationships you may not recognize just yet though. Thank you everyone!


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